Smells like Trouble
by otownroxx
Summary: Rory & Jess are best friends. They have been since they were five. Ever since Jess's parents died in a car accident & he moved in with his uncle Luke. On top of that, Jess carries the burden of harboring a secret crush on his best friend. Enter Dean and T
1. You Can't Hurry Love

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A/N: Hey guys...I finally got myself a new story. I waited until I had a few chapters written before I posted to make sure I could get into this and wouldn't abandon it. Well, right now, I can promise you at *least* 6 chapters. So yay!! Now I just have to type them all up. Joy. Anyway, review if you like it. Hell, review if you don't. Just let me know how I'm doing. Thanks for reading!!

Smells Like Trouble

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Chapter 1

"Oh, _oh_! I win!" Jess Mariano threw his hands in the air.

Rory Gilmore frowned. "What? You cheated! You can't move the goal posts like that!"

"Who says? Show me the official rules and you got yourself an argument. Otherwise..."

She rolled her eyes. "There are no official rules for bagel hockey, Jess. We made the game up."

"Alright then," he replied. "I made the game, I changed the rules, so no penalty on my part...Therefore I win."

Rory balled up a napkin and threw it at him. He raised his hands, easily blocking the paper from hitting it's target [his face]. He retaliated, throwing it back at her. It bounced off her nose.

She grinned, handing it to him. "Alright, fun's over. We have to get to school."

He sighed, sailing the napkin over the counter and into the trashcan on the other side. "Luke!" he called. "Rory and I are going now!"

Luke Danes, Jess's uncle and legal guardian, poked his head into the diner from the kitchen. "Bye. Have fun."

Jess and Rory left the diner and climbed into her car.

__

"Have fun," Jess mocked. "Right. Since when is school fun?"

"Maybe you could answer your own question if you showed up to class more."

He glanced over at her as she put on her seatbelt and started the car. "I wish you would come with me sometimes."

"Just because I let you use my car doesn't mean I have to go with you."

Jess shrugged. He was always skipping class. Especially now that Rory got a car and gave him a copy of her keys. She trusted him, though. He was her best friend, after her mother, of course.

His skipping class had gotten so regular, no one was surprised to see his empty chair in class anymore. The real surprise was when the seat was actually occupied.

Rory pulled onto the road that would lead them to Hartford, a town less than an hour away from Stars Hollow, where they lived.

"Besides," she added, slowing down to the speed limit, "I still don't understand why you won't you take Tristin with you."

__

"Please," Jess scoffed. "He's your friend, not mine."

"I don't see why you don't like him," she replied. "You two have so much in common."

"Doubtful."

Rory glanced over at her best friend, reaching over to pat him on the leg. "Okay, okay, I give up."

"Good."

Half an hour later, the two of them were walking down the halls of Chilton, the prestigious prep school they attended, on their way to class. Rory stopped short, as did Jess, when Tristin DuGrey called out a greeting.

"Hey Mary."

Rory smiled, stopping at his locker. Jess leaned against the wall, somewhat annoyed.

"Hey Tristin."

"What are you doing on Saturday?"

Rory shrugged. "Jess and I were thinking about driving to New York for the day. It's been ages since we've been there. Why, what are you doing?"

"I was thinking about throwing a party. I was hoping you'd come."

"That sounds like fun." Rory glanced at Jess, who inconscipuously shook his head. Her face fell in disappointment, and Jess's face softened.

"We could always go to New York next weekend..." He trailed off with a sigh. He _really_ didn't like this guy.

"Really?" Rory's face lit up.

_Since when does she care about Chilton parties, anyway?_ Jess wondered. But then—seeing her face light up like it did just then, he didn't much care.

"Exactly. So you'll come then?" Tristin asked Rory.

"_We'll_ come," she responded, linking her arm through Jess's. Jess glared at Tristin, but he chose to ignore it.

"Of course. I'll see he both of you there." Tristin slammed his locker closed, backing away. He pointed at Rory. "Saturday at eight, don't forget."

She shook her head, watching him go as the bell rang. Turning to Jess, she said, "This should be fun, huh?"

"We'll see," he told her, leading the way to their first class.

Once school was out for the day and Rory had driven Jess back to Luke's, she grabbed a coffee to go before heading home. She had a lot of homework, plus stuff for the Franklin, the school newspaper. She figured she'd get an early start on it all, since tonight was movie night.

Every week, Rory and her mother, Lorelai, picked a designated "movie night", in which they would go rent some movies and buy enormous amounts of junk food as snacks. It was a wonder how they still kept their slim figures. Most movie nights Jess joined them, if Luke would give him the night off.

After about twenty minutes of studying, the phone rang. Rory hurried into the living room to search for the phone. Luckily, this time she found it before it stopped ringing.

"Hello?" she asked breathlessly.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"Jess? I dropped you off only—" Rory glanced at her watch, "—twenty minutes ago."

"So?"

She sighed. "Homework. I'm doing homework."

"I should have guess you'd already have your nose in a book," he laughed. "Need help?"

"Jess, you never come to class. You don't even know what we're studying."

"I'm smarter than anyone there," he boasted. "Try me. Let me help. Just tell me what you're doing."

"I don't really need help," she insisted. "Aren't you supposed to be working?"

"Yeah, but I'm trying to find an excuse to leave. I'm tired."

"So why don't you just tell Luke that?" Rory asked.

"Hey says I use that excuse too much and when it's actually true, he doesn't believe me anymore."

"Stop lying and maybe he'll learn to believe and trust you one of these days," she told him.

"Hey. I resent that." Rory laughed, and he was quick to ask again, "You sure you don't need help?"

"Bye Jess."

"Bye," he mumbled.

Rory hung up the phone. "What am I going to do with him?" she asked herself, shaking her head. She glanced back at her homework and frowned. She really did need help with her homework. Sighing, she picked the phone back up and dialed the number to Luke's Diner, listening to the familiar greeting.

"Hey, is it really busy today?"

*****

The next few days flew by, and before Rory and Jess knew it, it was Saturday morning.]

The two had stayed up late last night watching movies, and Jess ended up crashing on the couch.

Rory yawned, stepping out of her room to find Jess in the kitchen making coffee.

"Bless you," she said as he handed her a cup.

He grinned. "Excellent timing."

"Yeah, well, what can I say—it's a gift."

"Ready to go?"

She frowned in confusion, sitting down at the table. "Where?"

"New York."

"I thought we were going next weekend. Today's Tristin's party, and I don't want to miss it."

"Since when do you care about Chilton parties, anyway? You don't even like those kids—you've told me so a million times."

"I know, but I want to go to this one. Do I need a reason?"

Jess didn't answer for a moment. Then he shook his head, sighed, and went to get himself a cup of coffee.

Rory knew that sigh. That was a 'You disappoint me' sigh. She stood up and walked over to him so she could look him in the eye.

"Are you seriously going to be mad at me if I decide to go to this part tonight?" she asked in astonishment.

"Sounds like you already decided. So go."

"I'm not going unless you are."

"We're not joined at the hip, Rory. We _can_ do things by ourselves," Jess responded sarcastically.

Rory reeled back. "Alright then. Maybe you should leave."

"Ror, I didn't mean to—"

"Thanks for the wake up call," she cut him off, raising her cup of coffee.

"I'll see you later, Rory." Jess turned away from her.

"Goodbye."

Rory watched him leave, his head bowed and his hands in his pockets. She sat back down at the table, touching her forehead to the cool surface of the table.

'I hope he comes,' she found herself thinking.

Glancing around at the empty house, she was almost sorry that she had declined Jess's offer to go to the city. They always had so much fun on their trips.

No. He got mad for no reason. It was almost like he was jealous of Tristin. But that was impossible. Jess didn't think of her like that. They were best friends—he was just looking out for her.

Yeah, that had to be it, she decided. In that case—he'd come around. Sooner or later, one of them would apologize, and things would get back to the way they were supposed to be. Just like always.


	2. True

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A/N: New chapter!! Yay. ;) LOL after I upload this, I'm going to upload the next chapter of CoffeeJunkie02 meets NYer02, so please check that out if you haven't already and let me know what you think. ;)

Lunatic Lauren :_ they are in high school...seniors, I guess. I don't think it really matters._

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Sarinileni : _Actually, if you look in the Gilmore Girls books, it's TristIN not TristAN._

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Everyone else :_ Thanks so much for reading, and thanks for the great reviews. Note: Tristin won't be in the picture again for a few chapters, but HE WILL COME BACK into the story more, so just be patient. These next few chapters are mainly focused on Rory and Jess. You'll see why soon._

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Chapter 2

Jess scrubbed furiously at an invisible spot on one of the tables in Luke's Diner. Luke walked by, carrying a plate in each hand. He leaned over.

"You know, instead of repeatedly cleaning this already-spotless table, you might want to go clear off some dirty ones now. Unless you want to be here all night. In that case, please continue."

"What?" Jess glanced down. "Oh. Yeah, okay." He moved to another table and started to clear it off.

"What's wrong, Jess?"

"Nothing, Luke. I'm just a little preoccupied right now."

"Are you still upset about what happened with Rory?" Jess gave him a look, so Luke continued, "Then go talk to her. You're not going to solve anything being here."

Jess sighed. "I guess..." His eyes swept over the diner, and he finally noticed at all of the dirty tables that he had neglected cleaning.

"Don't worry about it," Luke told him, reading his mind. "I'll finish up here. Go on."

"Thanks," Jess flashed his uncle a half-smile, which was a nice change from his usual scowl. 

Jess hurried out of the diner, heading to the Gilmore house.

Lorelai jumped at the sound of the doorbell. She glanced down at the red polish covering her toe and frowned. Wiping it off quickly before it dried, she went to answer the door.

"Jess? What are you doing ringing the doorbell? You usually just walk right in."

"Uh, I thought maybe since Rory and I aren't talking, it might not be the best thing to just barge in. Especially since—" He leaned forward confidentially, lowering his voice. "I've come to apologize."

"Ah. Good move. She's in her room. Knock before you go in and she'll really be impressed."

Jess grinned, walking inside and shutting the door behind him. He took off his coat and tossed it on the couch. Lorelai went back to painting her toenails.

Jess let out a breath, knocking on Rory's bedroom door.

She opened it a few seconds later, and her face instantly became guarded.

"Hey," Jess greeted, attempting to smile.

"Hello," Rory replied coolly.

"Are you busy?"

She shrugged. "I was studying."

"Right. Of course you are."

"What's that supposed to—"

"No, that's not what I—" He swallowed. "Do you need help?"

She frowned at him. "No thank you." She turned and went back to sit at her desk.

Jess sighed, following her into the room and closing the door. "Look. I'm sorry, okay?"

She glanced at him, raising an eyebrow. "Sorry about what?"

He stared at her. Was she really going to make him—oh, yes, she was. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Rory waited patiently for him to gather his thoughts, but all he ended up coming up with was, "Sorry I tried to make you feel guilty for wanting to go to the party."

She relaxed, smiling at him. That was all that she had wanted to hear. A simple 'I'm sorry' sure did wonders sometimes. "Apology accepted."

"So...how was it?"

"How was what?" she returned.

"You know...the party."

"Oh, that." Rory glanced down at the open book in front of her. "I didn't end up going."

Jess's eyebrows shot up. "But that was all that you had talked about all week long. What changed your mind?"

"Well, you would have been the only sane one there. You wouldn't have been obsessing over your looks, stressing to find a dance partner who's outfit didn't clash with yours..."

"I see your point," he commented with a grin, stopping her there. They both knew the list went on and on. "But Tristin was there."

"Yeah, but he was probably playing the host and mingling with everyone. I would have gotten bored real quick. I pictured myself finding an empty room and curling up on a couch, reading a book. It didn't sound appealing. Besides, it's always more fun with your best friend by your side." She linked her arm through his.

"Maybe we _are_ joined at the hip."

"So, now that the party is out of the way, we can start planning for our road trip next weekend," Rory said to Jess.

They were sitting indian-style on Jess's bed, facing each other. Jess reached over and grabbed something from his night stand, tossing it over to her.

"A map?" She looked confused. "We've driven to New York a hundred times, Jess. I could drive there in my sleep. I hardly think we need a map." She tried to hand it back to him.

He took it from her and handed it right back. "We do if we're not going to New York."

"But...Where are we going then?"

His lips curved upward slowly, and warning bells were already starting to go off in Rory's head.

"Massachusettes."

"Massachusettes?" she echoed, frowning. "What's in Massa—" Her eyes widened as realization dawned on her, and her face broke out into a big smile. "Boston?"

"I saved up some money from working in the diner, and I thought it would be nice to drive somewhere new for a change. If you're up to it, of course."

"Oh no, I'm totally up to it," she replied, trying hard to contain herself from squealing.

There was only one reason for them to go to Boston. Rory's dad lived in Boston. She hadn't seen him in over a year. He called regularly, but it wasn't the same. She was just thinking how nice it would be to see him again and surprise him, when Lorelai opened the door.

"Is everything okay in here? It got really quiet, and I ws afraid that one of you, you know, did something to the other one or something."

"Can Mom come, too?" Rory whispered to Jess.

Lorelai leaned forward, whispering as well, "Come where?"

Jess sighed. Talk about putting him on the spot. He had been hoping it would just be the two of them on this little outing. But Rory was looking at him expectantly, so he answered, "Of course."

She surprised him by throwing her arms around him in a hug. They almost never hugged. They just showed their affection to each other with their words. He would have thought it would have been awkward, but it was actually kind of...nice. Just as the thought registered in his mind, however, she pulled away.

"We're going to go see Dad!" she squealed.

"You're what?" Lorelai asked, not sure she had heard correctly.

"We're—"

"Going to see Christopher."

Rory waited for her mother to get excited, but it didn't happen. "Do you not want to go?"

"It's not that...I'm just wondering how Jess came in here five minutes ago to apologize and all of a sudden everything's back to normal and you're on your way to Boston."

"It was just a thought. We don't have to go if you don't want us to."

"I just think he'll be really busy and probably not even have time to hang out, that's all."

"He hasn't seen us in over a year. I'm sure he would _make_ time," Rory pointed out.

"She has a point there," Jess said.

"Weren't we mad at you? Yeah, what happened to that?" Lorelai asked.

Jess frowned. "Hey, leave me out of this. This is between you and Rory."

"You're mad?" Rory asked her mother.

"No, honey, I'm not mad. I just...I don't see why _all of a sudden_ you have to see your dad."

"It's not all of a sudden. I've always wanted to go up there, I just never mentioned it. Now Jess did, and I want to go."

"So go then," Lorelai cried, throwing up her arms. "Have fun!"

Rory frowned. "You're not coming?"

Lorelai shook her head, on the verge of tears. She hurried upstairs, slamming her bedroom door behind her.

"Shouldn't you go see what's wrong?" Jess asked after a moment.

"No," Rory replied, staring in the direction that her mother had just gone. "When she wants to talk, she'll come find me."

Jess shrugged. "If you're sure."

She nodded. "Come on. I'll walk you home."

He rolled his eyes. "You just want some of Luke's coffee."

"Do you want to walk back alone, is that what you want? Keep talking." She grinned.

"Well, I walked _over_ by myself, so I think I'm capable of walking home alone..."

"Ugh. Fine."

She started to turn back to her homework, but Jess placed a hand on her arm, stopping her. She glanced at him, flashing him a smile that she reserved only for him.

He nodded to her door. "After you."

She ducked her head, leading the way out of the house. She paused at the front door, hesitantly, then called out to her mother that she was going to Luke's. She received no response.


	3. Shut Up

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Tristin, Tristan...if you guys are so upset by me using _Tristin--_which it *does* spell it like that in the books--I'll start using 'Tristan'.

Chapter 3

The days dragged on slowly, and the Gilmore house had been unusually quiet since Rory had announced her plans to go to Boston.

She really didn't understand what the big deal was. She hadn't seen her father in a long time, which meant Lorelai hadn't, either. So you'd think she would be thrilled about the road trip. You would _think_.

Now it was Friday afternoon, and Rory and Jess had just gotten home from school. They were stopping at home just long enough to change and grab their bags, then they were hitting the road.

Rory handed her bag to Jess to go put in the car, and she looked at her mother.

"Are you sure you don't want to come?" she asked once again, just to make sure. "It's not too late."

"No. As it turns out, my schedule is pretty busy this weekend."

"Really? What are you doing?"

Lorelai sighed. "Nothing. I'm going to Sookie's. Have fun." She walked over to her car and got in, starting the engine and backing out of the driveway. Rory just watched her, biting her lip.

"I have a feeling I'm forgetting something," Rory said thoughtfully, after she and Jess had been driving for about half an hour.

"It's probably nothing," he assured her. "Wait...we have gas, right?"

She nodded. "That's not it."

"Don't worry about it. You're going to visit your dad. Get excited."

She smiled uneasily. "I am excited. I just—"

"You're probably just worrying about your mom. Trust me, she'll be fine."

"I guess. I just hate fighting with her."

"Look, she was invited to come, but she said no. You can't change that. And as to her acting so weird about it—I don't know what to tell you."

Rory was quiet for a minute. "I just have this weird feeling that I shouldn't go, though," she told him.

"It'll be okay, trust me."

She nodded, smiling genuinely at him. "Okay...let's go."

*****

"You _got_ us _lost_."

Jess flipped the map over in his hands. He turned it upside down, then sideways, and finally right-side up again. "I did not."

"Good argument," Rory responded, rolling her eyes. "Fine. If we're not lost, tell me which exit to take."

"What are my choices?"

"The ones on the map," she said flatly. She glanced over at him and couldn't help but laugh. He was concentrating so hard...it was cute. Wait. Did she just say Jess was cute? Well, she took it back.

"We are so lost," Jess mumbled, giving up on the map.

"Yup," she sighed. "I'm going to pull in at that gas station up there. We can ask for directions. Or at least figure out where we are and go from th—hey, why are you shaking your head? You're the one that got us lost."

"I'll figure out where we are, just give me a minute." He opened the map again.

"Jess, come on. You can't be serious."

"I almost got it. See? We went up here, turned there..."

"What is it with guys and asking for directions?" she demanded.

He flashed her a grin and she shook her head, smiling back and passing up the gas station.

Twenty minutes later...

"Did you find us yet?" Rory asked.

"_We're_ right here. I just haven't found where _here_ is yet."

"We have to pull over."

"No we—"

"Jess, it's getting late. And we could be heading to Canada for all we know."

"Awesome."

"Yeah, well, it won't be so awesome when I call Mom and tell her we got lost and ended up in Canada."

"True," Jess said thoughtfully. A devilish smile slowly spread across his face. "But wouldn't it be fun to see Luke's reaction?"

Rory laughed. "Yeah," she admitted, "It would be pretty funny."

She pulled into a parking lot and Jess looked up.

"Rory. I don't know what you thought would happen on this trip, but..."

They were sitting in the parking lot of a really fancy hotel.

Rory shot him a look. "_Right_. And how do I know you didn't get us lost on purpose? You could have some big plan to—"

"To what?" Jess's eyes danced. "Seduce my best friend?"

"Well it wouldn't be the first time." She winked at him, turning off the engine and getting out of the car.

Jess's mouth dropped open. He got out, hurrying after her. "I did _not_ try to—"

"Sixth grade."

"Oh. That. That was...I was...It was a joke."

"Ha! Then why is your face so red?" she teased, poking him in the ribs as they walked into the hotel. He held the door for her.

"Huh."

They looked around in awe.

"Jess, we can't afford this place," Rory said worriedly. "Maybe we should keep on driving until we find a place not so...fancy."

"I got it, don't worry."

"Jess, no. It's too much. Luke doesn't pay you enough."

"Let's just see how much it is," he suggested, leading the way to the front desk across the room.

"Okay..." Rory said hesitantly.

They stopped at the desk, and the man behind it greeted them with a smile.

"Welcome to Fifteen Beacon. How can I help you?"

"How much for a room?" Jess asked.

"One night?"

"Yeah."

The man nodded, pulling something up on the computer. "Would you like one bed or two?"

Rory exchanged a glance with Jess. "Two costs more?" Rory asked. The man nodded, so she shrugged. "Okay, one bed."

"One room, one night, one bed, two guests...It comes out to be two hundred dollars."

"What the hell?" Jess demanded. "Two hundred dollars for one night? You've got to be joking."

"No, sir. Fifteen Beacon is one of the finest hotels in—"

"Yeah, yeah, sure. But you must be crazy if you expect us to shell out—"

"Jess, come on," Rory hissed. "Let's just try to find someplace else." She looked back at the man. "Where is the next nearest hotel?"

"Right down the road, but Miss—you don't want to go there. It's a horrible place."

"Well, then, we'll sleep in the car, I guess." Rory started to turn away.

"Oh—wait. I'm sure we could work something out. How much do you have?"

Jess took out his wallet. "Not including our gas and food money, we have a gand total of ninety-eight dollars."

"Oh. Well...I'm sure we can find something." He pressed a few more buttons on the computer. "Ah yes. I have just the room."

"I don't know."

"What don't you know?" Rory asked. "He's giving us a good deal. Be quiet and take the key." 

Jess rolled his eyes as the man behind the desk plucked a key off the wall and held it out. Jess took the key from him.

"We can at least look at it, right?"

"Taking a peek won't hurt," the man agreed. Both he and Rory turned to Jess, waiting for his reaction.

"I guess," Jess grumbled. 

"Thanks."

Rory and Jess headed up to the fourth floor, where their room was located. Jess unlocked the door and turned to her.

"Ready?"

She nodded. "Open it."

He immediately obliged, opening the door.

"Oh my god," Rory breathed. "Is this real?"

"I think we've died and gone to heaven," Jess exclaimed, the frown instantly leaving his face.

Rory walked into the bathroom and squealed. "Oh my god," she said again. "Jess, come here! Look, the bathroom is as big as my room at the house. And, oh wow! It's got a hot tub!"

Jess laughed, meeting her in the bathroom.

"Is this the life or what?"

"Yeah. I almost forgive you for getting us lost." Rory grinned.

"Hey. That map was—" He paused and she smirked at him. "Wrong," he finished, going back into the room.

"Maybe all maps are wrong."

He made a face, tossing a pillow at her. Rory's mouth dropped open as it flew past her face and narrowly missed knocking over a lamp.

"Jess!"

He grinned, plopping down onto the bed. Rory fell onto it beside him. "That was a great performance you did," Jess said after a while.

"Excuse me?"

"_It's too expensive. Jess, we _can't_ stay here..."_

"Hey, the price he was asking _was_ too—"

__

"Well, I guess we'll just sleep in the car..." He sighed exaggeratedly.

"Okay, fine. We got to stay here, though, right?"

"Yeah."

"What do you think the two hundred dollar rooms are like?"

"Probably the exact same. They just want to see how much money they can get out of you." Jess's eyes wandered toward the bathroom. "You want to check that hot tub out?" He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

"I didn't bring a bathing suit, Jess," she told him.

"So? Wear your underwear. It's the same thing."

She blushed. "It is not the—"

"We've known each other practically our whole lives, Ror. There's nothing to hide." He turned to look at her fully, but her eyes were downcast as she contemplated a reply. "What are you afraid of?" he asked gently.

She slowly raised her eyes to meet his, but she still said nothing.

"Fine. I'm going in." He stood up, stripped off his shirt, and headed into the bathroom, not even bothering to shut the door.

Rory bit her lip as she heard the water start. What was she worrying about? This was Jess, for crying out loud! She _had_ practically known him her whole life. And they didn't think of each other _that_ way, right? So there was no problem. _Right_?

She heard Jess climb into the hot tub a minute later, and she sighed. Telling herself over and over in her head that there was absolutely nothing wrong with her getting in there, she walked over to the bathroom and stood in the doorway.

Jess grinned at her, his eyes dancing. "Change your mind?"

"Shut up." She started to take her top off and noticed that he was watching her. "Turn around!" she instructed.

"But I'm going to see—"

__

"Turn around."

He rolled his eyes, obediently turning so that he was facing the wall. He tried to look over his shoulder at her, but she shove him, so he turned back.

Now in only her underwear and feeling more self-conscious by the second, Rory quickly hopped into the hot tub and sat down, bringing her knees to her chest before Jess even had the chance to turn his body forward again.

"Now that doesn't look very relaxing," he teased, grabbing her ankles and trying to pull them toward him so she would stretch out her legs. She wouldn't budge. "Okay...how about if I turn on the jets and the bubbles full blast?"

He flipped some switches on the side of the tub, and the two were instantaneously surrounded by bubbles. Jess tried to pull Rory's ankles again and this time she let him, slowly stretching out to where her feet were at Jess's side. He touched a toe playfully against Rory's thigh and she grinned, splashing him. He splashed her back, all of a sudden sitting right next to her and tickling her.

She screamed, trying to squirm away, until her eyes locked with his. He had stopped tickling her, and now she was just wrapped up in his arms. Her laughter died down, and then there was dead silence. Jess slowly..._so_ slowly...started to lean forward...

And then the phone rang. They jumped apart.

"That's, uh—that's my cell phone," she announced. "I'm going to get it. Turn around again."

Jess didn't need to be told twice this time. He immediately spun in a half circle, facing the wall again and smacking his knee in the process. He felt ashamed of himself for almost kissing her. It was Rory, for godsakes. His best friend. Best friends aren't supposed to think of each other that way. Then again, maybe he was wrong.

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A/N: Sorry if the chapter sucked. But trust me, it was a lot worse before I did some last-minute changing and edited out a few things. Note: the hotel is a real hotel—believe it or not, it was even more expensive than I put [$200]...it's like $400 a night or something, I looked it up. Oh well. LOL. Sorry it took so long to get the chapter up. ;D


	4. Don't Speak

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thanks for the reviews!!

miarae : ya know what?? I admit it - I'm all about the cliché's, LOL. Not intentionally, but they just kind of happen in my stories. I don't mind, and I hope you don't either. ;D

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Ariana555 : thanks for reviewing both my stories ;D and I'm not really obsessive about the spelling [I know you weren't implying that, I'm just saying], I just don't see what it matters. As far as I know, we haven't seen his name spelled out on the show, so either spelling could be right, ya know?? Like I kept thinking Sookie's name was spelled Suki so I was writing it like that until I saw the episode of her wedding, and it said Sookie on the invitations or somewhere in the episode. I was all oh, oops. LOL. ;P

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Iminlovewithaboynamedjess : I have never checked into a hotel, so I don't really know either. I just made it up. Oh well, what can ya do?? lol I'm not such a perfectionist that I would like go check into a hotel and see what it's like or anything. Ha. 

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Organized chaos : I didn't know it was a weird plot line, but...thanks!! LOL

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Chapter 4

Rory wrapped herself in a robe, hurrying into the other room to grab her cell.

"Hello?" she asked breathlessly.

__

"Hey sweets! You weren't sleeping, were you?"

"Mom, hey!" Rory greeted nervously. "No, we weren't sleeping. We were-"  
_"Did you make it to your Dad's house yet?"_

"No. We checked into a hotel. It was getting dark, and by the time we got there, Dad might have already been asleep anyway."

__

"A hotel, huh? I knew that boy was trouble," Lorelai joked. _"All this time, he was just sucking up to me so he could get you alone and-"_

"You love Jess," Rory laughed. "And that's not even like it is." She stole a glance at Jess when she heard him get out of the hot tub. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of his bare chest and boxers. She felt her heart start to beat just a little bit faster, so she forced herself to look away.

__

"I know, I was just teasing. Well, I'm going to go to bed; I'm tired."

"Yeah, me too."

__

"Goodnight. And remember, don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Good_night_," Rory said, shaking her head with a smile as she hung up the phone.

Jess cleared his throat and Rory looked up. "Uh...what side of the bed do you want?"

Rory looked over at the queen-sized bed and bit her lip. "Right," she said finally.

Jess nodded, pulling the sheets back. "I'm going to brush my teeth," he declared, reaching into his bag and holding up a toothbrush.

Rory grabbed her own toothbrush and followed him back into the bathroom.

They both brushed their teeth quickly and quietly, every so often stealing a glance over at each other in the mirror. After they were finished, they both headed off to bed, mumbling goodnight to each other and turning on their sides to face the wall.

In the morning, all of the awkwardness was gone. Things were back to normal, much to Rory's relief.

They got started early. Rory guessed that it would only take about two or three more hours to get to Boston. She had finally convinced Jess to go over and ask the person behind the front desk directions to Boston. The man was very helpful. He had family in Boston, so he knew exactly which roads to take.

"Where to first?" Rory asked, once they were settled in the car. She messed with the air conditioner as Jess glanced down at the piece of paper in his hand.

"According to this, you need to...take a right."

"Thanks. Okay, so...music. We need music." She reached over and turned on the radio.

Jess looked ovr at his friend. She flashed him a grin and he knew that everything was going to be fine. Normal, even. Yesterday was nothing. Not even worth mentioning.

"I-I think we're here," Rory whispered.

They had finally made it to Boston, and they were now parked in the driveway of what was supposedly Rory's father, Christopher Hayden's, house. Rory sat there, looking nervously up at the house. Jess squeezed her hand in encouragement.

"Go on," he urged.

"But what if-"

"It's not like you haven't had contact with him. You talk to him every week."

"But I don't want to make him feel...obligated or anything. To, you know, visit with me. I know he must be busy."

Jess got out of the car, and Rory followed suit, still talking as she followed Jess up to the front door.

"I mean, he's got a career now, he's always traveling, and-what if he doesn't like surprises?"

"Rory. Stop. It'll be fine. I promise."

"I hope so."

Jess rang the doorbell and they heard it echo throughout the house.

"Fancy doorbell," Jess commented. "When did he move out of the apartment?"

"A month or so ago," Rory answered, staring at the door. "You know, he hasn't seen you in years."

"What about the last time he came?" Jess asked.

"That was when you and Luke went to your Uncle's funeral in New York."

"Oh yeah...huh."

They stared at the door for a few more moments.

"I don't think he's home," Jess said.

Rory sighed. "He's probably at work."

"Want to check it out?"

Rory's face brightened. "Can we?"

Jess shrugged. "Come on." He started back toward the car.

*****

"Is this the place?"

"I'm guessing," Rory answered, staring up in awe at the building in front of them. "I've never actually been to his work before."

Jess inadvertantly grabbed Rory's hand and pulled her toward the front doors.

Rory thought nothing of it at the time, as her attention was fully focused on the enormity of the building. She hurried up to the reception desk.

"May I help you?" the woman sitting behind it asked as people buzzed around behind her.

"Yeah, we're here to see Christopher Hayden," Jess told her.

"Do you have an appointment?"

"Well, no. But I'm his daughter," Rory answered, shifting her weight.

The receptionist glanced at her computer, pressing a few buttons. "I'm sorry. Mr. Hayden is out of town on business. He won't be back for a few days."

Rory glanced at Jess. He looked at the woman. "We're just in town for the day. Is there any chance you would have a number or address as to where we could reach him?"

She shook her head. "I'm sorry, sir." She gave them an apologetic smile before she went back to sorting through papers.

"This sucks."

Jess sighed. "Sorry. Maybe I should have called to make sure he was here first."

"Oh, no. It's not your fault. It's fine."

"Yeah, but now you're disappointed, and-"

"You sound like Luke," she teased.

He made a face. "Thanks," he said sarcastically.

"I like Luke," she reminded him, putting her arm around his waist and giving him a half-hug.

Smiling, he replied, "Yeah, I know."

"So I guess its back to Stars Hollow," Rory said, trying not to sound too disappointed.

"We don't really have a choice. Like it or not, we have school tomorrow."

"I know," she said glumly.

"Let's go. We'll come back another weekend."

"I guess."

"Of course we will. We'll call first, though."

She laughed. "Yeah, that would be good." She tossed him her set of car keys. "Do you want to drive for awhile?"

"Sure."

They got into the car and soon they were on their way home.

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End of chapter 4. LOL let me know what you think. ;D Kind of uneventful, but oh well. ;(


	5. Miracles Happen

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A/N:: thanks for the great reviews. ;D

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Chapter 5

Not even an hour out of Boston, the thundering and lightning started. The rain poured down in sheets, coming down so fast that Jess was forced to stop the car and pull over. He could hardly see where he was going.

"What now?" Rory sighed, staring out the window and frowning at the rain.

Jess reached over and turned on the heater as he saw her shiver. "We'll just sit here a few minutes and see if the rain lets up."

"I hate lightning," Rory mumbled, almost to herself, turning away from the window.

"It'll pass in a few minutes," he assured her, turning on the radio to drown out the noise. He watched her close her eyes, and he was tempted to just lean over and finish that kiss that he had started--or tried to, at least--in the hotel. But then he remembered the awkwardness and nervousness that had followed, so he held back.

Just when he was about to change his mind and give in to temptation, her eyelids fluttered open.

"The rain stopped," she noticed.

Damn.

"So it has."

"Are you tired? I can drive," she offered, mistaking his disappointment for fatigue.

"No, I'm fine." He started the car again, speeding off down the road.

"Hurry!"

Rory and Jess ran into the building, laughing uncontrollably. It was half an hour later, and they had been hit with another storm. Luckily, this time they had been near a hotel, so Jess had pulled over and they decided to stay for the night. This hotel wasn't near as fancy as the last one, but it was livable.

Rory insisted on paying for the room, since Jess had spent most of his money on the trip. After about five minutes of trying to convince him to let her pay, he finally agreed. They got their key and slowly started upstairs in search of it. They were both exhausted.

Rory hurried ahead of him and found their room, waiting at the door as he walked over and let them in. 

Jess flipped on the lights and Rory ran inside, turning in a circle. "Nice," she commented.

"Cool, a minibar." Jess's eyes lit up.

"Jess, no."

"Just one?"

"Jess, you know how you get..."

"Just one," he repeated, his hand on the handle to the minibar. He waited for her to say something else. He knew she didn't like him to drink. It scared her, because he used to drink all the time at parties and such, then come over to her house wasted. She hated him driving after he had been drinking. Some days she snuck out of the house to pick him up.

And then one day he had stopped. Just like that. They had been at a party and he had gotten drunk and got in a fight with some guy, and somehow the guy ended up flying through a window. Jess had seen the look on Rory's face when it happened, and it was not one he ever wanted to see again. Not on her face. So he sobered up.

"Okay, but if anything happens, I'm going to leave you here," she warned, trying to hide the worry in her voice.

He smiled at her, taking out a drink. He offered her one, knowing full well that she would decline. Rory didn't drink.

And tonight was no exception. She shook her head, reaching past him and grabbing a coke instead.

"One sip?" he tried again.

She bit her lip. One sip wouldn't hurt, right? You don't get drunk or get hangovers from one sip. She reluctantly accepted the bottle, taking a small sip before handing it back to him. She made a face.

"I can't believe you actually like that stuff," she said incredulously.

He shrugged. "You get used to it." He tipped his head back and took a long swig from the bottle.

"I don't see why you'd want to," she mumbled. "Anyway, I'm going to bed now. You coming?"

"Oh yeah."

She rolled her eyes. "You're such a dork."

He grinned, pulling back the covers of the bed and laying down. He set his half-empty bottle on the table next to him.

"Aren't you going to brush your teeth?" she asked.

He yawned. "I'm too tired."

"To brush your teeth? Ugh, okay." She laughed as Jess pulled her next to him on the bed. Turning off the light, she lay her head next to his.

It was quiet for a few minutes, and Jess wondered if Rory had already fallen asleep. He swallowed. "Rory?" he tried, his voice sounding unusually loud in the still room.

"Hm?" she answered sleepily, turning her head slightly.

"Sorry you didn't get to see your dad."

"That's okay." She yawned.

"I had fun, though," he continued softly, turning on his side to look at her. He propped his head up with his hand.

"Me too." She smiled. He didn't say anything else for a moment, so she started to close her eyes again. "Well, goodni--"

All of a sudden, Jess's lips were on hers. Her eyes flew open in surprise, then slowly fluttered closed again as she returned the kiss.

Her head was spinning. Well, this was new. She tried to tell herself he was only kissing her because he had been drinking, even though he had only had half a bottle. But even if that were true, why was she kissing him back?

At that thought, she pulled away, glad it was dark so he couldn't see how red her face was. She raised a hand to her face, not surprised at the warmth beneath her touch.

She could feel Jess's eyes on her, but she refused to look at him. She muttered a goodnight and rolled over to face the wall.

Jess sighed, mentally kicking himself. He knew he shouldn't have made another move. His hope was not lost, however, because _she had kissed him back_. That had to mean something.

The next morning, Rory and Jess hardly said anything to each other. Rory was still trying to figure out what the past night's kiss had meant, and Jess just wanted to pretend it hadn't happened altogether.

"You want to start heading back now?" he asked. Rory nodded, gathering her things.

The ride home was pretty quiet. When they were almost home, Rory called her mother from her cellphone.

__

"Hello?"

"Hey Mom."

__

"Hey sweets!" Lorelai greeted. _"Where are you?"_

"We're just leaving Hartford. We'll be home in about half an hour."

__

"Oh. You didn't stop in to see your grandparents, did you?"

"Not this time."

__

"That's my girl."

"Mom!" Rory laughed.

"_So. Did you see your dad?"_

"No." Rory sighed. "He's out of town."

__

"Oh, Ror, I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I had fun anyway." Out of the corner of her eye, Rory saw Jess smile slightly.

__

"Well that's good. So...did anything happen with you and Jess?"

"Why would you ask that?" Rory asked nervously.

__

"You evaded the question," Lorelai observed.

"So?"

__

"You answered a question with a question."

"Once again, so?"

Lorelai gasped. _"Oh. My. God. Something happened! Give me all the dirty details!"_

Rory cleared her throat. "Actually, I'm kind of tired. Maybe we can skip movie night tonight?"

__

"Oh fine. Tell me when you get home. Hurry, though. This is huge. I don't know how long I can wait."

"That's fine. See you in a bit."

Rory hung up the phone, her hand shaking. Another glance at Jess out of the corner of her eye told her that he hadn't noticed anything unusual about the way she was acting.

Thank god. That's all she wanted--to feel even more embarrassed or nervous around him.

It's funny how one kiss could change everything. It sounds so cliché, but that's exactly what happened.

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A/N: please review!! And I started a new story on the OC, so be on the lookout for that sometime soon, too, if you watch the show. I'm really excited about it. 


	6. Smile Like You Mean It

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A/N:: Thanks for the reviews. Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up. ;x You guys forgive me, though, right?? o;)

Chapter 6

When Rory and Jess had finally arrived home, Jess stopped in front of the diner and got out, letting Rory slide into the driver's seat.

"I'll see you later?" he asked, definitely not liking the way his voice had come out so pathetically hopeful.

"Sure." She smiled at him, touching his arm lightly.

Oh no. Should she have done that? Would that give him the wrong idea? She hated how she had to think of these things now. Sighing, she finished the short drive hoe and all but ran inside. She gave her mother a fierce hug and Lorelai laughed.

"Woah. Hun, you've only been gone two days, not two years."

Rory sunk into the couch in the living room, and Lorelai sat down next to her. Rory laid her head down on Lorelai's lap and, confused, Lorelai smoothes down Rory's hair in a comforting gesture.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?"

"Jess kissed me," Rory mumbled into Lorelai's leg.

Lorelai smiled. "It's about time."

Rory's head shot up. "What?"

"Well, haven't you ever pictured you and Jess together? At least once? It's nothing to be ashamed of. You and him are so close and have so much in common, but not _too much_ in common that it's boring...Ya know?"

"No," Rory said flatly.

"Maybe you should give it a shot. It could be great."

"It could ruin our friendship." She silently willed her mother to change the subject and leave it at that. She did not want to be talking about this. Especially not since not only had she wondered what it would be like to be Jess's girlfriend, but she had thought of _nothing_ else since they had left the hotel to come home.

And she was desperately trying to think of something--anything--else.

"Okay, okay. I know that look. We can talk about something else."

"Thank you."

"So...sucks that Christopher was out of town."

"I should have called first," Rory replied. She tried to shrug it off, but Lorelai could see the disappointment in her daughter's eyes.

"Well at least you got your first kiss. The trip wasn't a total waste, huh?"

"Mom!"

"What? First kisses are the best. Well? Wasn't it?"

Rory blushed. "I thought we were dropping it."

"Come on. You know me better than that," Lorelai told her with a grin on her face.

Rory sighed, realizing that she was never going to hear the end of this.

"What happened after the kiss?" Lorelai wanted to know.

"I...I said goodnight."

"Well that was sweet. What about the talk, did you have the talk yet?"

"What talk?" Rory asked wearily.

"_The_ talk. The one about what the kiss meant."

"No. We haven't really talked _at all_ since it happened."

"_Since it happened_," Lorelai mocked good-naturedly. "You might as well say 'snce the incident occurred'."

"It wasn't so much of an incident, per se, but--"

Rory was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Who's that?" she wondered aloud, going over to opening the door.

Sookie St. James beamed, crushing Rory in a hug. "You and Jess! That's great! What happened?"

Rory shot an accusing look at Lorelai.

"What?" Lorelai asked defensively. "It's big news."

"Luke," Jess greeted as he passed his uncle on his way upstairs.

"Jess," Luke returned, watching his nephew disappear behind the curtain. He stared after Jess for a few seconds before calling to Caesar, "I'll be back."

He hurried upstairs and threw open the door to the apartment that he shared with Jess.

Jess didn't even glance up. He just finished unpacking what little he had brought with him on the road trip, trying hard to ignore his uncle. He knew what was coming. Luke had always suspected that Jess has had feelings for Rory. He had been skeptical about the road trip from the beginning, and he was no doubt up here not to grill him over it.

"Get it over with."

Luke frowned. "Get what over with?"

"The questions. I know you want to know if anything happened or not."

Luke stared at him a moment before responding. "Yeah, well...nothing happened, right?"

"For the most part," Jess answered, shooting a nerf ball into the plastic hoop on the back of the door.

"What does that mean? Jess!"

Jess gave Luke a look that said 'that's all you're going to get out of me' and he grabbed a book, heading back downstairs.

Luke shook his head. Oh well, surely if something happened, Rory would tell Lorelai, then Lorelai would run over and tell him. He'd just have to be patient. That shouldn't be very hard. It seemed like he was always waiting for Lorelai.

"Lorelai."

"Hey Luke," she replied, trying not to take notice of the intense look he was giving her as she walked into the diner later that night.

"Did Rory have a nice time with her Dad?"

Lorelai's lips pressed together, and Luke immediately regretted bringing it up.

"He was away on business," she explained. "She didn't even see him."

"Oh. So Rory just spent the whole time with Jess."

"Yeah, I guess. Jess didn't tell you anything?"

Luke coughed. "No. Did, uh, Rory tell you anything?" he asked casually.

Lorelai took a sip of her coffee. "She may have."

Luke leaned forward, lowering her voice. "They didn't..."

"God, no. They just kissed. Once."

"Rory. And Jess. Rory and Jess kissed." He sounded skeptical.

"Are you really that surprised?" she asked.

Luke was quiet for a moment. "No, I guess not."

"I was wondering when it would happen," Lorelai told him. "It was just a matter of time."

Luke nodded wordlessly. He watched the last customer in the diner leave and suddenly realized that it was just him and Lorelai.

It had been a slow night, so Luke had let Caesar go home early, nd apparently Jess thought he deserved the night off, because he hadn't come downstairs once since he got home.

"It got eerily quiet all of a sudden."

"Yeah. It's been a slow night. I might as well close early."

"Oh. Okay." Lorelai started to stand up.

"You don't have to leave just yet," he said quickly. "Here." He poured her another cup of coffee, and she stared down into it, a slow smile sppreading across her face.

"You are voluntarily giving me coffee? Are you feeling okay?" she teased.

"What, you don't want it?" He made a futile attempt to take the coffee mug from her, but she pretended like she was going to bite his hand, so he pulled back. "That's what I thought."

"It doesn't take as good," she announced, after taking a sip from her cup.

"What? Of course it does," he argued.

"No it doesn't," she insisted. "I didn't earn this cup. It was handed to me. Huh. Now I see what they mean when they say 'victory is sweet'."

"Revenge is sweet." Lorelai stared at him blankly, so he repeated, "Revenge is sweet. That's the saying. Not 'victory is sweet'."

"So what is victory then?"

"I don't know."

"Well obviously it's a lot sweeter than this coffee." Lorelai made a face, frowning into her coffee mug.

"Alright, I get it." He rolled his eyes. "Do you want me to make a new pot?"

"No, no, I'll live," she responded with an exaggerated sigh.

"I'll go get it started."

Rory glanced around her bedroom with a sigh. She picked up a picture of her and Jess and suddenly felt the urge to call him. But as soon as she had picked up the phone, she quickly put it back down. She set down the picture that was still in her hand, wondering where her mother was. It was getting pretty late. The Chinese place should be closed by now, and--

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the front door.

"She must've forgotten her key," Rory said to herself, going to the front door and throwing it open. "There you a--" She blinked, stopping in midsentence and falling back a step. "Jess," she breathed.


	7. Free Me

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Chapter 7

"What are you doing here?" Rory asked, pulling Jess into the house and shutting the door from the cold.

"I just came to talk."

"About?"

"Us."

"Jess, there is no 'us'. There's you and there's me. It's not that complicated."

"It just got a _lot_ more complicated."

"From a simple kiss? It was nothing. Just a mistake," she told him, hoping she sounded convincing. But as soon as she saw the way his face fell, she wished she could take her words back. But it was too late.

Jess only let the hurt show on his face for a split second, before his expression returned to being unreadable.

Rory had known this boy all her life and she still couldn't read him sometimes. But there were times when he slipped up, like he did at that moment, and she knew how he really felt.

"It was a mistake, wasn't it?" Rory asked gently.

Jess fought hard to resist the impulse to grab her by the shoulders and shake her mercilessly until she saw in him what he saw in her. 

"Of course," he lied. "That's why I came over. To make sure that little kiss didn't give you all these fuzzy feelings for me."

Rory rolled her eyes. "You wish," she teased, finally relaxing.

'You have no idea,' he thought bitterly, taking off his coat and tossing it into the closet.

"So what do you want to do, watch a movie? Read? What was the plan for tonight?" he asked her.

"Actually, Mom and I were going to veg out. You know, stuff our faces while ridiculing some random no-name movie. You're welcome to join us, if you want."

"Sounds like movie night," he commented.

"No. Movie night consists of classic movies, pizza, and sweet stuff like M&Ms and tiny marshmallows. Vegging out is no-name movies, chinese, popcorn, and sometimes ice cream."

"So Lorelai is..."

"Out getting the food," Rory finished.

"Or at Luke's, keeping him company while he cleans up."

"I knew I shouldn't have let her go alone," Rory sighed. "She'll be there all night."

"Well, I'm here. We can start the ridiculing without her," Jess suggested.

"I don't know...did you come prepared?"

Jess grabbed his coat and stuck his hand in one of the pockets, coming out with a bag of peanut butter M&Ms.

"My favorite," Rory beamed. She took the bag from him. "You're in. Have a seat."

Jess grinned, walking into the living room and sinking into the couch. He clasped his hands behind his head. "So what are we watching?"

"Lord of the Rings."

"Oh geez," Jess groaned, sitting up. "That's not even a no-name movie."

"I bent the rules this time," she replied.

"Do I have a say in this?"

"You could say 'bye'," she answered, smiling down at him innocently.

"Mean."

"Come on. I've only seen it once. And that was a long time ago. I just read the book again the other day and now I want to see the movie."

"If it will make you happy."

Jess picked up the video and walked over to the VCR, putting in the tape. Rory sat down and Jess pushed play, grabbed the remote, and sat back down next to her. _Right_ next to her. In fact, they were almost touching.

Now although Jess didn't seem to mind it, Rory did. She couldn't even concentrate on the movie. She kept glancing over at him, and he finally turned to meet her gaze, smirking at her.

"What?" he asked.

Rory was quiet. She started to fidget. Jess grinned even wider. Rory's eyes fell on his mouth, and she felt herself blushing. She had this crazy urge to close the small distance between them and just kiss him. She didn't understand why, but the thought annoyed her. Why was she all of a sudden feeling this way? A week ago, two weeks ago, she would have laughed at the thought of kissing Jess. He was almost like a brother to her. Or so she thought.

It sure didn't feel that way now, though.

"What?" she returned.

"Are you watching me or the movie?"

She was a little taken aback by the direct question, and it took her a minute to formulate a reply.

"Do you want me to watch you?"

"Do you want me to want you to watch me?"

"Do you?"

"What?" Jess laughed. "You got me."

She grinned. "Good."

They both turned back to the TV, and Rory managed to keep her eyes _only_ on the TV this time.

When the movie was over, Rory reached to grab the bag of M&Ms from the table.

"That was great," she exclaimed, popping some candy into her mouth. "Even better than I remember."

She looked over at Jess. "Jess?" No response. She nudged him slightly. "Jess?" Still no response. He was asleep. _"Je--"_

Her voice caught in her throat as his head fell onto her shoulder. She glanced around the room, as if double checking that she and Jess were the only ones home. Then she glanced down at him, smiling. She raised hjer hand to smooth down his haid, but jumped guiltily as the front door burst open and Lorelai bounced into the room.

"Ror! I'm home! I come bearing Chinese! So pop that video into the VCR and--" Lorelai stopped in the doorway to the living room, watching in amusement as Rory strained her neck to look at her mother, while at the same time trying not to wake Jess.

"You two look cozy," Lorelai observed.

"Funny. He fell asleep watching the movie. Help me move him."

"You watched the movie without me? Not fair. I was only gone a minute."

"A minute? Mom, you missed the whole movie. It's two and a half hours long."

"Well I had to...wait for the Chinese."

"For two hours?"

"Shh. You're going to wake Jess." Lorelai grabbed Jess's shoulders and gently moved him over. His head flew back and his eyes shot open.

"Where am I?"

Rory tilted her head. "Where do you think?" she asked sarcastically.

Jess started to smirk at her, but he ended up yawning instead.

"You missed the movie," Rory told him.

"What a shame."

Lorelai laughed and Rory gave her a look. "What?" Lorelai asked defensively. "Don't look at me like that. I could have stayed awake; you just watched it without me."

"You made an unplanned pit stop," Rory pointed out.

"And Elijah and Orlando were calling out to you? They said _'watch me, watch me'_? You couldn't have waited a little while longer?"

"As a matter of fact--"

"I'm going home," Jess interrupted. "It's getting late and unfortunately, we have school tomorrow."

"Oh, okay. Thanks for keeping me company, even if you were snoring half the time," she teased.

"I don't snore."

"How would you know?" she challenged.

He ignored the question, standing up and grabbing his jacket.

"See you tomorrow."

"Night." Rory smiled.

Jess left, and Lorelai plopped onto the couch next to Rory.

"What happened here?"

"Nothing. Jess came over and wanted to hang out. He brought peanut butter M&Ms and everything. What was I supposed to do, turn him away?"

"You could have taken the candy first."

"Nice."

Lorelai shrugged. "You two need to just make out and get it over with."

"What?" Rory's eyes widened. "Where did that come from?"

"There's too much tension and weirdness between you two since the first kiss."

"And kissing him even more will solve that little problem?"

"Maybe."

Rory shook her head. "Well, what about you and Luke?"

"What about me and Luke?" Lorelai returned.

"You two have all this tension built up--maybe you should make out with him to make things better."

"Don't think I haven't thought about it," Lorelai joked, taking a sip of Rory's soda on the table. Rory smiled. "But I never kissed him in the first place, so it wouldn't help any."

"I like your reasoning," Rory told her sarcastically. "But I'll only kiss Jess again if you kiss Luke."

Lorelai raised an eyebrow. "What are we talking here, a peck on the lips or full on--"

"I beg you not to finish that sentence," Rory cut her off. "I don't think I need the visual."

"Alright." Lorelai grinned, yawning. "I think I'm heading up to bed now."

"Okay, night Mom."

"Night hun." Lorelai kissed her daughter on the top of her head and headed upstairs to her bedroom.

Rory glanced over at one of the end tables next to the couch, focusing on a picture of her and Jess. She smiled, standing up and going to her own room. 

****

A/N: Not much of an ending, I know. lol. note- I have not seen, & have no desire to see, the LOTR movie, so I'm guessing on how long it is. I heard it's really long, lol, so I took a guess. I think I heard somewhere it's like 2 1/2 hours long. If I'm wrong, oh well. Also, as usual, I didn't spell check this chapter, so I apologize if there's any errors. ;D Please review. 


	8. Loser

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A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I'm sorry it took so long to update, but I've pretty much been neglecting this story and working on my Roswell one. ;x I'm sorry. But I have nothing written after this, though as I typed it up just now, I got some ideas. So I really need to start writing again. LOL.

Organized-chaos : no...i haven't seen any of the LOTR movies. i tried watching the first one when my sister borrowed it from someone, but i literally fell asleep during it. ;/

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Miarae : damn, it's over 3 hours? I can barely sit still through POTC, and that's one of the best movies i've seen in awhile.

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Chapter 8

Rory woke up the next morning to the sound of her alarm clock. She groaned, turning it off and rolling over onto her back.

It was six thirty in the morning, Tuesday, which meant only one thing--she had school in a few hours. Her three-day weekend was over. She contemplated on ignoring the alarm clock, rolling back over and just sleeping through the day. It was tempting, but she knew that Lorelai wouldn't let her. So it was either get up now and go to school or have Lorelai find her later and still go to school--but be late.

She hated being late. So that was actually not an option. She groaned again, sitting up. She had better go take her shower before she really _was_ late.

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After she had finished her shower and gotten dressed and accessorized, she headed into the kitchen.

Lorelai frowned at her daughter. "We have no coffee," she exclaimed, as if it were a life or death situation.

The front door opened and in walked Jess. Lorelai's eyes lit up.

"Bless you," she cried, her eyes on the cups of coffee in his hands.

He laughed. "Only one of these is yours."

"Jess..."

"Alright, you can have mine, too. Just don't tell Luke."

"You're a doll," she gushed. He made a face and shook his head. "An angel?" she tried again. He shook his head again. "A sweetheart? Rory, help me out here."

"Thank you," Rory told Jess.

He let out a breath. "You're welcome. Are you almost ready to go?"

"Jess Mariano, in a hurry to get to school? I never thought I'd live to see the day," Lorelai teased.

"Just drink your coffee, sweetheart," he mocked.

"Okay, it just sounds creepy when you say it." Lorelai took her two cups of coffee and sat down at the kitchen table.

Jess rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Rory? We leaving anytime soon?"

"Hold your horses. Let me grab my stuff."

She went to get her things, and Lorelai stood back up. She walked over to Jess, lowering her voice. "She'll come around," she told him.

"Excuse me?"

"Give it time." She winked at him as Rory appeared in the doorway.

"Ready!" she called. "Jess?"

She told Lorelai. Of _course_ she had told Lorelai. He should have expected it, yet for some unknown reason, he hadn't. He would have thought the idea of him and Rory together _that_ way would have unnerved Lorelai. But here she was, winking at him and pointing at her daughter as she stood behind her, mouthing things like _'Take a chance_!' and _'She's just confused'_.

It didn't seem like Rory was the only confused one, however. Jess put a hand on Rory's backpack, gently guiding her toward the door and away from her crazy mother.

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"What are you doing after school?" Jess asked as they pulled into the school parking lot.

"I don't know, why?"

"I was going to go home, get some coffee, then hit the bookstore and maybe catch a movie. You interested?"

"I'm there," she confirmed, turning off the ignition.

"We _could_ go n--"

"Don't even think about it. I'll only go with you if you go to all of your classes today."

"Okay, _Mom_." He grinned.

"I'm serious. _All_ of your classes."

"I'm serious, too. Bring on the learning!"

Rory linked her arm through his. "Let's go. The learning's this way."

They walked into the school together and headed over to Rory's locked. As she spun the dial of the lock, Tristin appeared beside them. It was like he always knew exactly when she would be at her locker, and he made it a point to always come over when she was.

"Hey, Mary."

Jess took a step forward, but Rory held him back. He was immediately distracted from Tristin, instead focusing on Rory's hand on his chest.

"Don't," she pleaded softly.

Jess glanced over at Tristin, who smirked at him.

"Listen to her, Mariano. She's a smart woman."

"I know. I'm still wondering why the hell she would even associate with someone like you."

__

"Jess," Rory tried again, an edge to her voice.

Jess glanced at her and walked into their first class, leaving Rory standing beside Tristin.

"Sorry about him," she said. "He's very protective of me."

"I can tell."

Rory smiled, starting to turn away for class. Tristin put a hand on her arm, and she stopped, looking at him expectantly.

"Hey."

"Hey..." she replied, looking confused. He didn't say anything for a minute, so she cleared her throat. "Tristin? We're going to be late for class."

"What are you doing Friday night?" he asked, as she started to leave again.

She raised an eyebrow, opening her mouth to answer him, when the bell rang and everyone started hurrying to class. Her response had been cut off, but Tristin was determined to get his answer.

"Rory?"

"Wha--oh. I..."

"Come on. I won't take no for an answer."

Rory glanced up and met eyes with Jess, who was waitinf for her in the doorway to their class. He motioned for her to hurry, so she quickly nodded at Tristin. "Sure. Call me later."

She turned away for a third time, before Tristin cleared his throat.

"Rory? I don't have--"

"My number. Right." She grabbed a pen from her purse and quickly scrawled her number on his hand. He looked at it and grinned.

"I'll call you."

"Okay, bye."

Rory made it through the doorway just as the tardy bell rang. She moved past Jess, who was glaring at Tristin. Tristin nodded at him, leisurely walking off to class.

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"What was that?" Jess asked.

"What was what?" Rory returned, sliding into the desk next to his.

"That out there. You gave him your number!" he lowered his voice as people turned to stare.

"I did not," Rory protested.

"Oh really. What did you write on his hand, then? The homework?"

She shook her head, her face breaking into a grin.

"What are you laughing at? This isn't funny."

"Yes. I gave Tristin my number, Jess. It's not a big deal."

"Why?" he demanded.

"We are going to do something on Friday. He's calling me so we can make plans."

"You're really going out with that loser?"  
Rory's smile faded. "Tristin is not a loser, Jess."

"He doesn't even know your name," he said.

Rory shook her head, leaning over to him as the teacher started talking. "I thought we agreed that the kiss was a mistake and it didn't mean anything," she whispered.

"It was--it didn't," he told her, gritting his teeth to keep himself from telling her the truth.

"Then how come you're acting like you're...jealous?"

"Ms. Gilmore."

Rory sat up straight. "Present."

*****

"Are we still on for the bookstore?" Rory asked as she and Jess walked out of their final class together.

"Do you want to be?"

"Of course! Who doesn't love the bookstore?"

Jess slowed down, letting her walk ahead of him. "Right," he muttered. "Who doesn't love the _bookstore_..."

They rode most of the way to Luke's in comfortable silence. It wasn't until they were turning the final corner that Jess spoke up.

"It's a shame you're going to miss the firelight festival," he said casually.

"What? I'm not going to miss it."

"It's on Friday. Isn't that when your big date with Tristin is?"

"It's not a date, much less a big one. And the festival is not this weekend, it's--"

"This weekend."

"No..." Rory frowned. "Oh! Well I can't miss it, so Tristin is just going to have to come here."

"But..."

"What?" she pressed. "Look, I know you don't like him, but I'm sure one night won't kill you, right?"

"I guess, but...nevermind. Okay."

Rory turned into a parking space at Luke's, turning off the engine. She leaned over and gave him a hug.

"Thanks."

He sighed, hugging her back.

The firelight festival was their thing. It was like a tradition. He always refused to go, she would beg him all week to go with her, and he would finally agree. It was their tradition. Now here she was, bringing in an outsider to share _their_ tradition.

But he wasn't going to ask her to not bring Tristin. If he did, one of two things would happen. She would either listen to him and actually not bring Tristin and he would feel guilty, or she would still bring the guy and get upset with Jess for even asking her to not bring him. And Jess would still feel guilty. It was pretty much a no-win situation. So he didn't say anything.

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A/N: Please review. ;) Sorry about the stupid lines throughout the story. For some reason, fanfiction.net was being retarded and it wouldn't recognize the line breaks, so it looked like it was one big thing. I put the lines to separate the scenes or whatever you want to call them. Hopefully next chapter they won't be here.


	9. So In Love With Two

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A/N: Sooo sorry for taking so long in updating!! Ahh. ;x But here I am, haven't gone anywhere!! I've been alternating writing my Gilmore Girls and my Roswell story, and even though I've had this chapter done for awhile, I kept forgetting to upload it. Been pretty busy with work, too. But enough of my excuses. I hope you enjoy this not-so-eventful chapter. It doesn't seem that long, but don't hold that against me. I'll try to get the next chapter up within a week. If I get some nice reviews, I might add it on Thursday even!! Wow. lol ;D

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CHAPTER 9

By the time Friday had rolled around, Jess had decided that this year he would just skip the festival. Forget tradition.

Rory came into his room that afternoon, frowning at him.

"Why aren't you downstairs?" she asked him.

"Why aren't you?" he shot back.

"I don't work there," she pointed out. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Can't I just not be down there for once?"

Rory touched his arm. "I'm sorry. I'll let you get back to your reading," she said, noticing the open book in his lap. "I'll meet you back here before the festival, okay?"

Jess picked his book back up. "I'm pretty tired. I think I'll just go to bed early."

"You're not going?" Rory sat down next to him. "We always go."

Jess just shrugged in response, and realization dawned on Rory's face.

"You're not not going because Tristin is coming, are you?"

"What difference does it make?" he asked her, not looking up from his book.

"Oh my god, Jess. Stop it. You're going. I will be here at six, and you have better be ready to go to the festival."

Jess didn't argue. He knew that no matter what he said, Rory would end up convincing him to go. Just like she did every year. There was just something about her, when she was being totally serious, like she was at that moment. He was used to her always acting a certain way, but when she became determined about something, she always managed to get her way.

"You're not saying anything," she observed. "So I'm taking that as a sign that you'll be ready to go at six. I'll see you then."

Jess glanced up. "See you later," he said. He went back to reading his book, but not before getting a glimpse of the expression on her face. She looked surprised and happy that she had gotten him to agree to go, but also proud of herself for actually being able to change his mind so quickly. Usually it took days.

Rory quietly exited the room and Jess tossed his book ont othe bed beside him. He couldn't concentrate on it, anyway. He fell back onto the bed, clasping his hands behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling.

*

Lorelai grabbed her purse and was halfway out the door, when the phone rang. She glanced at her watch, contemplating on just ignoring it and slipping out the door. She was supposed to meet Rory, like _now_. But what if that _was_ Rory on the phone, calling with a change of plans?

Sighing, Lorelai picked up the phone just as the answering machine picked up. She heard herself say hello and felt as if she were talking to herself.

"Hi...is Rory there?"

Lorelai raised an eyebrow. Well, well, well...who was this boy that wasn't Jess, calling her daughter?

"No she's not, but I can take a message to her if you want, I'm going to meet her right now."

"Oh. My name is Tristin DuGray. Can you just tell her I called?"

"Will do."

"Thank you."

"Uh huh." Lorelai hung up the phone, writing something down on a slip of paper and stuffing it in her purse.

She reached Luke's shortly after, scanning the room for Rory. Her eyes fell on Luke instead.

"Hey," he called to her, before disappearing into the back room. Lorelai followed him, but he came right back out. She followed him out, too.

"What have you done with my daughter?"

"What?"

"Where's Rory?"

Luke pointed toward the apartment upstairs. Lorelai glanced up as Rory appeared from behind the curtain.

"Rory, my baby," Lorelai cried, giving her daughter a hug. "I thought I had lost you forever."

"What?"

"What?" Lorelai turned to Luke, slapping her hand down on the counter. "I need coffee."

"I beg to differ," he responded.

"Coffee. Me. Me get coffee."

"Mom, you just said 'me get coffee'." Rory guided her mother to a stool by the counter.

"So? Oh, sweetie, you got a phone call."

"I did?"

"Yes. I took a message." She took the piece of paper out of her purse, smacked it onto the counter, and slid it over to Rory.

"'Tristin called'," Rory read. "You couldn't have just remembered that and told me?"

"You said we need to start writing down messages, because we always forget."

"But I'm sure you could have remembered for--nevermind. Thanks for the message. Can I borrow your cell phone?"

"What? No, no, boy time is over. You were just with Jess. It's Mommy time now."

"Jess is a different boy. Tristin doesn't know how to get to our house. I told him to call and I'd tell him where to go. He needs directions."

"Dirty."

"Not dirty," Rory said.

Jess came downstairs, leaning against the counter toward them. "What's not dirty?"

"Rory."

"Oh." Jess grinned. "Too bad," he joked.

Rory shoved him, her face turning red. "I'm going to call Tristin now." She shook her head, taking Lorelai's cell phone as it was handed to her.

"Tristin?"

"I know. I don't like him either," Lorelai confided. "Tristin, yuck."

Jess grinned again. "You don't even know him," he reminded her.

"Hey, I'm rootin' for you, babe."

Jess's eyes widened and his gaze flew over to Rory, but she wasn't paying any attention to them. Thank god.

Lorelai caught Jess's eye and she sipped her coffee innocently.

"Tristin?" Rory asked into the phone. "Hey...yeah, we're still on. Okay, let me give you directions."

"Dir--"

Before Lorelai could even get the word out, Rory put her hand over her mother's mouth. Lorelai made a face, pulling away. She went back to sipping her coffee.

Jess narrowed his eyes at Rory as she started laughing at something Tristin had said. Suddenly, he had an idea. "Uh, Lorelai, I think I forgot one of my books at your house. I'm going to run over and get it, okay?"

"Mi casa es su casa," she responded, tapping out a beat on her empty coffee cup subconsciously.

"Thanks." Jess went over and got the coffeepot, setting it in front of her. "See ya."

"Ooh..." Lorelai poured herself a fresh cup of coffee as Jess exited the diner.

Luke walked in from the kitchen just in time to witness the scene. "Lorelai..."

"What? I didn't do it."


	10. Perfect

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A/N: Sooo sorry it took so long to update!! But I've been writing the story lately, and I'm not promising a date for the next chapter [[I'm such a liar, telling you guys I'd update this chapter a long time ago. Sorry about that. I really need to stop making promises]] b/c then something will come up and I won't be able to update or something, lol. Anyway, I do have chapter 11 finished, but I need to go through it a couple more times to make sure it doesn't sound dumb, and I still need to type it up. Also, if you haven't joined my GILMORE GIRLS zine yet, and you want to, e-mail me at Eeyore783aol.com. And if you want to join my OC zine, e-mail me at the same address. Don't forget to tell me which zine you want to join, and let me know that you found out about my zine through my SLT story!! ;D well, okay, on with the chapter.** Thanks for the reviews**!!****

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Chapter 10

Jess stood in front of the Gilmore house, searching the porch for the ceramic turtle that hid the house key. He finally spotted it, picking it up and taking the key. He let himself into the house and headed straight for Rory's bedroom, not knowing how much time he had. Not like he was doing anything wrong, but it might be somewhat awkward if Rory came into the room and caught him.  
"Where is it..." he muttered to himself, scanning the bookshelf. His fingers ran across the bindings of the books. Not finding what he was looking for, he walked over to her desk.  
"Bingo."  
He picked up the book he had been searching for, flipping through the pages until he came across the information he needed. Grabbing a pen and some paper from the desk, he scribbled the information down, stuffing the paper in his pocket just as the front door opened. He quickly shut the book, sitting down on Rory's bed.  
She and Lorelai walked into the room.  
"What are you doing?" Rory asked slowly.  
He shrugged in response.  
"You weren't reading my journal again, were you?" She frowned at him, crossing her arms over her chest.  
He grinned. "You still write in that?"  
"Don't get any ideas," she warned. "You remember what happened last time?"  
Jess thought back, his smile fading. He coughed. "Yeah, uh, no. I wasn't reading your little diary."  
"He needed a book of yours," Lorelai explained.  
"Oh. Which book?"  
"That one...you know, the one I let you borrow before?"  
"The..._Land That Time Forgot_?"  
"Yeah! That's the one!"  
Rory nodded suspiciously. "It's over here." She reached under her bed and came up with a book, which she handed to him.  
He held it up. "Thanks." He started for the door.  
"You want to stay for movie night?" Rory asked. "We're going to watch a movie before the festival."  
He shook his head, not even pausing as he tossed a reply over his shoulder. "Can't, have to run. Homework. Bye."  
"Guess he didn't want to watch _Under The Tuscan Sun_," Lorelai commented.  
Rory stared in the direction that Jess had gone. "But he didn't even know what movie we were watching," she pointed out.  
"I guess he really wanted that book."  
"No, he didn't. He didn't even know I had that book. I just bought it yesterday, and he wasn't with me."  
"I don't know what to tell ya, sweets. How about that Tuscan Sun, huh?"  
Rory smiled. "I'll go grab the junk food."

A few hours later, Tristin showed up at Rory's door. _Right on time.  
_ She opened the door, greeting him with a smile. He was about to step inside, but she stepped outside first.  
"Let's go get Jess," she suggested.  
"Right now?"  
"I told him we'd be there at six and we would all go together."  
"One big happy family," Tristin said sarcastically.  
Rory rolled her eyes. "Now you sound like him. Come on." She pulled the door closed behind her. Tristin started to lead the way to his car, when he noticed that Rory was walking in the opposite direction.  
"Where are you going?" he asked her.  
"I thought we'd walk there. It's not far, and we're going to walk to the festival, anyway..."  
Tristin glanced at his car, then back at her. "Alright." He sighed.

Soon after, they had reached Luke's.  
"I'll go get Jess," Rory volunteered. "You can wait here. I'll just be a second."  
Tristin nodded and Rory walked over to the stairs, pulling back the curtain. She fell back off the first step as she nearly collided with Luke.  
"Hey Luke. Is Jess up there?"  
"Yeah. Oh, are you going up?"  
"Yeah, I was just going to get him for the festival. It's going to start soon."  
"Good, good. Keep an eye on him, will you?" He held up a folder. "I'm sick of running back and forth."  
"Uh...sure, Luke." Luke walked into the kitchen, and Rory shrugged at Tristin. "I'll be back."  
She moved the curtain once more, checking to make sure she wouldn't run into anyone again, before making her way up the stairs.  
She opeed the door to the apartment, walking right in. "Hey, are you ready to--_woah_." Rory turned away, blushing furiously. "My god, I'm sorry. I didn't know you had company."  
Jess shrugged. "It's okay."  
"Hi Rory."  
"Hi...Louise," Rory replied uneasily.  
Louise straightened her shirt and smoothed down her hair. "Are we going to that thing now? The firefly thing?"  
"It's called the fire_light_ festival."  
"Whatever."  
They went downstairs and met up with Tristin. Jess took notice of the glares Rory was throwing at Louise when she thought no one was looking. He grinned. So now she knew what it felt like. This should be interesting.

"Luke...Are you going to the festival?" Lorelai asked as she watched the foursome leave.  
"No."  
"Oh. Okay." Lorelai drummed her fingers on the counter. "Me either."  
"You're not going? You always go to these stupid things."  
"Yeah, I know, but...Well, hey. I'll go if you go with me."  
He smirked at her. "Nice try."  
"Please Luke?" she begged. "I don't want to go by myself. "The firelight festival is like another Valentine's Day in Stars Hollow. Don't make me be alone on Valentine's Day." She thought he was starting to cave, until he shook his head.  
"Take Taylor with you."  
"I want to go with you, Luke," she told him. He raised an eyebrow. "I mean, Rory is going with Jess and their friends and I'll be there alone. Don't make me be alone on--"  
"Alright," Luke cut her off. "I'll go if you be quiet."  
Her face lit up. "Great!"  
"You want to go now?" he asked her.  
"Sure. As soon as I get another cup of coffee, we're there."  
He sighed. He decided not to argue with her this time, though, for fear he would change her mind.  
"I'll be right back." He turned away to make the coffee, a smile on his face.

"What do you do at these festivals?" Louise asked.  
"Yeah. Do you just keep walking in circles for hours? Because that's what it feels like we're doing."  
"They must be running late. It should start soon."  
"_What_ should start soon?"  
"The festival. Everyone gathers in the town square and Taylor tells the story of how Stars Hollow cam to be."  
"That's it?" Louise asked.  
"Well, if you go to Luke's, he'll make you star pancakes."  
"Star pancakes?" Tristin smirked.  
"Yeah. _Stars_ Hollow." Rory rolled her eyes. "It's cheesy, I know, but..."  
"No, star pancakes. Stars Hollow. I get it. Clever."  
Rory smiled. "Then later on there's the bonfire."  
Louise shrugged. "It sounds cool."  
"You should hear the story. It's romantic."  
"Have you heard Luke's version of it?" Jess asked. "It's _disturbing_."  
Tristin laughed. "Well it still feels like we're just walking in circles. We've walked around the town about five times already." He gestured to his left. "I've seen this same stupid tree five times."  
"This is pretty pointless..." Jess admitted. "Why don't we just go back to Luke's and hang out?"  
"I saw this place driving over...Al's Pancakes or something like that. We could go there," Tristin suggested. "I think we just passed it. All that talk about pancakes made me hungry."  
"We could go there, but Al's doesn't have pancakes."  
Jess laughed. "Yeah, and it's...Friday. What is that, Morocco night? No, I think we're better off going to Luke's."  
Rory made a face and turned to Tristin and Louise. "He's right."  
Louise and Tristin exchanged a look. "Okay..." Louise trailed off. "How you can live here," she said to Jess, "is beyond me."  
Jess shrugged.

"Where's the bathroom?" Louise asked, once they were back at Luke's.  
"There's one upstairs," Jess replied. "Remember? You stood in front of the mirror for about half an hour earlier."  
"Oh, right. Well looking like this," she gestured to herself, "takes some work."  
She stood up and Tristin followed suit. "I'll be back, too," he called over his shoulder as he followed Louise upstairs.  
Once the two were out of earshot, Rory glanced over at Jess. "So...Louise, huh?"  
"Louise."  
"You didn't tell me you were bringing someone to the festival."  
"Sorry." Jess took a sip of his coffee. "I didn't know I had to clear it with you first."  
"No, you don't, it's just--why were you in my room before?"  
"Before?"  
"When I gave you the book that you didn't even know I had. Which I'd like back, by the way."  
"I'm almost done with it. And I had to get Louise's number somehow."  
"Wha--_oh_. I see. Don't think I'm getting jealous or anything, but why did you invite her in the first place? You told me she was too...provocative for your tastes."  
"Maybe my tastes have changed," he responded.  
"Changed how?"  
"Kind of like how yours changed when you decided to go after Tristin."  
Rory lowered her voice. "I am not going after--wait, are you getting jealous again?"  
"If _anyone's_ getting jealous, it's you," he retorted.  
"What do I have to be jealous of?" Rory demanded.  
"Nothing," Jess hissed. "I mean, it's not like I just told you Louise was my soulmate or anything. She is just helping me pass the time. That's all."  
"Oh, right."  
"I'm not interested in her," he assured her. Rory visibly relaxed, and Jess smiled. Rory found herself smiling back.  
"Maybe we should go see what's taking them so long," she suggested, breaking the silence.  
They went upstairs and found Tristin browsing through Jess's books.  
"See anything you like?" Jess asked.  
Tristin put the book in his hands back on the shelf. He shrugged. "Not really."  
"Where's Louise?"  
"_Freshening up_," Tristin answered, trying to imitate Louise's voice.  
"I'm almost done," Louise called. "So what are we going to do, hang out here?"  
"Actually, there's probably some parties going on. Jess and I usually go after the festival, but we could check them out if you guys w--."  
"Party?" Louise's lips curved in a smile. "Great. Give me ten more minutes and I'll be ready."

**

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****A/N: rofl I was searching for a book th****at Jess could pretend to be searching for and I couldn't find one. I saw 'The Land That Time Forgot' and liked the title for some reason, so I read a little bit about it and I was all "why not, he could be looking for this one" LOL. I was trying to find out if it was like a kids book or something but it didn't sound like one, so...i hope it's not. Ha. So, yeah, I've never read it. Just needed a name, b/c I didn't want to make up my own.****

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	11. When The Stars Go Blue

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews. ;D** **BTW...my 'CoffeeJunkie02 meets NYer02' story got deleted on the site again. stupid-ass--well, okay, i guess it wouldn't be good to start bad mouthing the people on their site, now would it?? lol. but anyway, at least now they had the decency to tell me WHY they deleted my story. i got an e-mail saying you can't post chat stories. who the hell cares?? i can see why they'd ban the damn NC-17 stories, but chat stories?? please. oh well, if you want the rest of that story, e-mail me at ****Eeyore783aol.com****. Now, that said, on with the story.**

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**Chapter 11**

Rory, Jess, Tristin, and Louise had found a party not ten minutes later, and they immediately blended into the crowd.  
"Want to dance?" Tristin asked Rory.  
"In a minute. I'm going to go get a drink first."  
"Yeah, me too," Jess announced quickly.  
"See you out there," Tristin said. Louise shrugged, following Tristin onto the makeshift dance floor.  
Jess hurried after Rory. "Having fun yet?" he asked.  
She glanced over her shoulder at him. "I guess."  
"Well, it's still early."  
She nodded, reaching for the ladle in the punch bowl. Jess took it from her, and she looked up in surprise.  
"Don't you remember last year?"  
"Oh. I can't believe I almost made that mistake again."  
Jess grinned, grabbing a soda and opening the can. He held it out to her. "It's no coffee, but--"  
"It'll do." Rory accepted the can from him, their fingers brushing as she took it from his hand. She locked eyes with him as she took a drink.  
"Want to dance?"  
Rory froze, and she almost choked on the soda. She had to remind herself to lower the can so that it didn't spill all over her. Jess took the can back from her, taking a sip from it, before setting it down on the table. He placed his hand on the small of her back and led her to the dance floor.  
A slow song started playing, as it always does, and Rory found herself wrapped in Jess's arms. She thought back to the kiss they had shared in Boston.  
"What are you thinking about?" Jess's voice interrupted her thoughts.  
Rory blushed. "You," she said honestly, her gaze falling to the floor to hide her red face.  
"Ror--" Jess started to lean closer, when Tristin cleared his throat beside them.  
"We're not interrupting, are we?"  
"Actually--"  
"Of course not," Rory said quickly, cutting Jess off. She could feel his eyes on her, but she wouldn't meet his gaze.  
"Great. Now I believe it is my turn. May I cut in?"   
Jess was about to reply, but was interrupted once again, this time by Louise. "Who is that?" she asked, biting her lip.  
They all followed her gaze to a tall, floppy-haired boy that was purposefully walking toward them.  
"Great," Jess muttered under his breath, only loud enough for Rory to hear. They were, after all, still in each other's arms. Blushing as his breath brushed her cheek, Rory pulled away. Jess glanced over at her.  
"Hey." The floppy-haired boy said nervously, almost as if he wasn't sure that he would be welcomed.  
"Hey," Jess replied. Louise nudged him. "Oh, uh--Dean, this is Louise, Tristin, and Rory. They go to Chilton with me. Guys, this is Dean."  
"I just moved here," Dean offered. "From Chicago."  
Louise stepped closer to him. "Oh really...how fascinating."  
Dean shrugged, his eyes on Rory. "Rory. That's an unusual name."  
"It's actually Lorelai. After my mother. But everyone just calls me Rory."  
"Rory," he said again. "I like that." He smiled.  
Louise rolled her eyes. "Okay, bored now." She grabbed Jess's arm and pulled him further into the crowd.  
Tristin left, going after some skank in a mini-dress.  
Rory was left with Dean, growing more uncomfortable by the second as he stared at her. She silently pleaded for Jess to come back. Hell, she would even take Louise.  
"So how long have you lived here?"  
Rory focused her gaze on Dean. "I'm sorry?"  
"How long have you lived here?" he repeated.  
"Oh. All my life."  
"Wow. I've heard things about small towns like Stars Hollow. Everyone knows everyone and everything and things like that."  
"All true."  
"Well at least I have nothing to hide."  
Rory nodded. "Excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom." She disappeared into the crowd of party-goers, walking around until she found Jess.  
"Jess, I'm going to go check out the festival. I'll be back later," she told him.  
"I'll go with you," he offered.  
"You don't have--"  
"I'll get our coats."  
Rory watched him go, a small smile on her face. She didn't even have to twist his arm this time.

"Come on."  
"What about--"  
"Louise and Tristin? They said to go ahead. They're not ready to leave yet."  
Rory looked around, trying to spot the two. "Maybe we should--"  
"Ror, it's just a party. A Stars Hollow party. It's fine. They don't even want to go to the festival, anyway."  
"I'm tired," Rory told him.  
"Me too," he admitted. "You know, we could just skip the festival and go back to--"  
"Jess."  
"Yeah, okay," he sighed. Rory kissed him on the cheek and he smiled. "What was--"  
"Just because," she answered. "Just because."

"When is this stupid thing going to start?" Luke wondered aloud.  
"Soon, I'm sure."  
"We've been sitting out here an hour."  
Lorelai sat back in her folding chair. "If I am not enough to entertain you, or at least keep you occupied for the time being, you're welcome to go back to the diner."  
Luke stood up and Lorelai watched him, frowning. _He was really going to just get up and--  
_ Luke gazed down at her. "Come on."  
_ Okay, now I'm confused, Lorelai thought.  
_ "You're coming with me. It's getting cold outside."  
"But what about--"  
"The diner's right there. We can look out the window and see when the festival starts. Then we can come back out here and freeze our asses off some more."  
"It's not that cold out here," Lorelai said. "And I'm sure as soon as we go inside, the--"  
"I'll make coffee," Luke offered, throwing up his hands.  
"Sold. Let's go."  
They walked over to the diner, which was eerily quiet.  
"Where's Caesar?" Lorelai asked.  
"Probably in the back."  
"And everyone else?"  
"At the festival," he responded, making his way behind the counter.  
"Can we play bagel hockey?"  
"What?" He looked at her like she was crazy.  
"Bagel hockey," she repeated. "It's the perfect time."  
"No."  
"Come on! Are you scared you're going to lose to a girl? Don't be a wuss, let's play."  
Luke narrowed his eyes at her. "You're on."  
He went to go start the coffee and grab a bagel.  
Lorelai's eyes landed on some salt and pepper shakers. "Ooh, I'll get the goal posts!"

"Rory, about earlier..."  
"Book," Rory blurted.  
"What?" Jess frowned in confusion.  
"I forgot to put a book in my purse. I always bring one."  
"Expecting to be bored?"  
"Maybe."  
"Hey, I'll be there." She gave him a look. "What? I'm a great conversationalist." She still stared at him. "Yeah, okay. Let's go get you that book."  
Once at the Gilmore house, Rory and Jess went to Rory's room to pick her out a book. They scanned her bookshelves in silence for a few minutes.  
"Who was that guy at the party--Dean?"  
Jess rolled his eyes. "He just moved here. I don't think he really has any friends yet. He comes into Luke's sometimes and follows me around the diner. It's kind of annoying."  
"He kind of creeped me out earlier," Rory confided. "He was doing this staring thing, and--"  
Rory stopped as Jess's hand brushed hers on the bookshelf as he reached for a book. Then his hand was on hers. Rory swallowed, turning to face him. His eyes met hers, and he started to lean in. Rory's heard skipped a beat, and her breathing slowed. As if drawn to him, she leaned in the rest of the way and their lips met in a soft, sweet kiss.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry if I made a bunch of mistakes, I just now finished typing it up. ;x I'm such a slacker, I've actually had it done for awhile [the writing part]. sigh I used to be so good at updating, too. I think it was b/c I wrote a lot in school [high school] and now I work and stuff and don't have as much time to write, b/c I am tired when I get home. But anyway, whatever. Ha. Um...please review. ;P Hopefully I can get another chapter up before I leave for Virginia in a couple of weeks. I'm going to visit my sister, yay!! LOL it'll just be me and my other sister - neither of us have been in a plane in like 10 years, and I'm afraid of heights, so...this should be fun. lol. Anyway, my birthday's in a week [on June 25th] -- I'm going to be 19. Yay!! So review this chapter if you're reading it -- it can be my birthday present from you guys!! Ha, I'm just joking. Anyway, hope you liked the chapter and sorry for the long A/N and stuff.**


	12. I Run Away

**A/N: OMG, I apologize it's taken me so long to get this up. Things just kept happening this summer, though. My dad's birthday and then mine right after I posted last chapter, then I went to Virginia to visit my sister for a few weeks, then came back and it was my mom's birthday, then my brother's...Geez. LOL the _birthday's_ are all over now, though [until my sister's in December]. I haven't written at all in ages. I do have the next few chapters written, though, thankfully. I start school on the 30th of this month, but I mostly wrote at school anyway, so that shouldn't be a problem. Anyway, I'll try to get the next chapter typed up as _fast_ as I can and I'll add it as soon as I have it done, whether I get reviews for this one or _not_. I hope you like the chapter...re-read the last one, if you need to refresh your memory on what happened _last_. Again, sorry!!, and here's the _c_****_hapter_.

* * *

****Chapter 12**

"Jess--" Rory breathed. There were so many thougts going through her head at that moment, she began to feel dizzy.

He kissed her again, and she felt her knees go weak. She attempted to speak again, but Jess had other ideas. Rory finally gave in, placing her hand on his neck to pull him closer. They were both soon out of breath, taking in gulps of air inbetween the passionate kisses, but neither could pull themselves away.

Jess leaned to the side, his hand still on her hip, and they fell onto her bed. He laid on top of her, planting a trail of kisses from her lips to her neck. Rory's heart started to race, and she rolled over so that he was now under her.

Jess tugged at her sweater, slowly lifting it up. Rory sat up and pulled it off, revealing the black halter top beneath it. Her fingers toyed with the fabric of his shirt, and he puled it off and flung it onto the floor to join Rory's sweater.

She sucked in her breath, gazing at him for a moment as he sat there, shirtless. It was not the first time she had seen him without a shirt on, but never in her life had she felt the way she did at that moment. Everything was different now.

She ran a finger down his chest and felt him shiver beneath her touch. Smiling, she leaned forward again. She felt Jess's lips curve into a smile as she kissed him.

A voice in her head warned her to stop, or at least slow down, so she pulled away. Jess looked at her in confusion.

"What is it?" he asked her, breathing heavily.

"We should stop," she told him. "We should go back to Luke's and wait for Tristin and Louise."

"Do we have to?" Jess asked, pulling her to him once again.

"Y-yes," she stammered.

"That didn't sound too convincing," he teased.

"Jess, what are we doing?"

"Well if you have to ask, then I guess I'm not doing it correctly," he replied with a grin.

"I'm serious, Jess."

"I thought we were kissing, Rory," he stated, answering her earlier question.

"I-I know." Now that the kisses had stopped, Rory had time to think. What was she doing? This was Jess! It was...Jess.

"What's wrong?" Jess asked, lowering his head so he could look into her eyes. "Rory?"

"You're Jess," she said softly, standing up. She threw his shirt to him.

Jess stood up with her. "Why do I suddenly feel like that's a bad thing?" he asked with an edge to his voice, pulling the shirt over his head. He tossed her sweater over to her.

She shook her head. "It's not. I just...Can we please just go back to the diner to wait for them?"

"Yeah, sure." Jess sighed, watching her turn her back on him and walk out of the house. He stayed in her room a moment longer, wondering how he could let things get this screwed up in so little time.

* * *

"That was out of bounds!"

"It was not," Luke protested, laughing. He nudged the right "goal post" slightly.

"Hey! No moving the goal posts! You cheat just like Jess," Lorelai muttered.

Luke shook his head. "I don't know why I even agreed to play this stupid game in the first place."

"To pass the time," she reminded him. "The festival's running late, remember?"

"Yeah, but I didn't want to go to the stupid thing in the first place."

"Oh, Luke," Lorelai sighed. "Someone's got to keep me company. Besides, you have the coffee."

"Is that all I am to you--Mr. Coffee Supplier?"

Lorelai looked a little taken aback._ Is this a trick question?_ she wondered. "Of course not," she answered finally. "That's not what I--"

"Then what?"

"What what?" she returned, confused.

"What am I to you?"

_What are we, back in high school?_ "You're Luke," she stated, as if that explained everything. He just stared at her, so she felt compelled to continue. "I don't know. You're my friend, my confidant, my--"

She swallowed as she suddenly realized that at each word, Luke had leaned closer and closer, until his face was just inches from hers.

"Your...?" he prompted, his voice low.

"My...My..." she trailed off, her breaking eye contact as her gaze fell to his lips. Before she had time to process just what exactly was happening, Luke's lips finally found their way to hers, and they kissed.

Not even a minute later, they parted. Lorelai felt her face grow hot. Luke looked embarrassed, unable to believe what had just happened. He immediately regretted his actions, bracing himself for what was about to come next. He knew Lorelai all too well.

"That was...I mean--"

"That was...new?" he offered.

"Right. New. Never happened before. With you, I mean."

Here it comes...

"Lorelai."

"I, um, I think I have to go." She stood up.

There.

"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Lorelai!" Luke called after her, but he was too late. She was already out the door and halfway down the street. He sighed. Every time things started to get intense between them, Lorelai would bolt.

He had accepted her invitation to join her at the festival, thinking that it might be nice to see her outside the diner for a change. And what happened? They ended up back at the diner, kissing. Briefly. That was definitely not how he had pictured the night going.

* * *

"So how long are we going to pretend like nothing is happening with us?" Jess asked as he and Rory walked back to Luke's. 

"What do you mean?" she asked, playing dumb.

"Rory."

"Mom." Rory stopped.

"What?" Jess turned around and saw that he had stopped, so he walked back over to her. "What?" he asked again, seeing the look on her face. He followed her gaze and his mouth dropped.

"That's Luke," Rory said.

"That's Lorelai."

"They're kissing!" Rory pointed out.

"I don't want to watch this," Jess groaned, walking away from the window and past the entrance to the diner. Rory glanced once more at her mother and his uncle, grinned, and hurried after him.

"It's about time they hooked up," Rory commented.

"I guess," Jess agreed. "Or...maybe they've been going at it for awhile now--"

"Nice choice of words," Rory said dryly.

"--Thank you--and we just never found out until now."

Rory stopped walking for a second as she thought about what he had said. Then she rolled her eyes and shook her head with a laugh. "Mom tells me everything. I would have known about this."

"Well they looked pretty comfortable tonight."

"Oh, stop it."

"It might've even been going on for years," Jess added, grinning as Rory started to look worried.

"She would have told me," she insisted.

"Come to think of it, they did look pretty close the other night. And then there was that weird message on the answering machine--"

"You're making it up," Rory accused, shoving him playfully.

If they hadn't been so busy laughing and teasing each other, they might have heard the door to Luke's slam closed and then seen Lorelai running off in the direction of the Gilmore house.

* * *

**A/N: Any feedback is appreciated!!**


	13. There She Goes

Chapter 13

"Do you see them?" Rory asked, once they had arrived back at the party.

"No." He tried to put an arm around her waist, but she shrugged him off, lightly pushing him away with her index finger.

"Rory!"

Rory and Jess both looked up. "Lane!" Rory cried. Jess grabbed Lane's arms as she tripped, laughing.

"Oops," she slurred, covering her mouth with her hand and hiccuping.

"Lane," Rory frowned. "Are you drunk?"

"No," Lane shook her head. "Ow."

Jess grinned. "She's _drunk_."

"Way to state the obvious. Want to help me here?" Rory asked. They led Lane over to an empty couch and helped her sit down.

"I'm thirsty," she whined. "I need some more punch."

"I think you've had enough," Jess told her. He looked over at Rory. "See? What did I tell you."

"What is the matter with you?" Rory asked Lane, sighing. She glanced at Jess. "Ever since she and Zach broke up, she's been the town party-animal."

"I'm surprised her mother hasn't heard about this yet," Jess replied.

"Zzzach," Lane said slowly. "I hate him. Him and his stupid guitar. I like Dave. _Dave_ is cute..." she trailed off, hugging the arm of the couch.

"Dave? The guy in Zach's band?" Rory asked her, trying to follow.

"Have you seen him? I want to dance with him."

"Lane, we need to get you home," Rory told her, taking her hand and helping her to stand. She linked her arm through Lane's, trying to steer her in the direction of the front door, but Lane pulled away.

"I'm going to find Dave," she declared, standing up and walking off.

"Don't the guys in her band live in Hartford?" Jess asked Rory.

"Yes."

"I don't think they would be here."

"I know that. Help me go get her. We need to take her home."

"Leave her," Jess said.

"I can't," Rory responded, going off after her friend.

Jess rolled his eyes, following them.

"Hey, over there--is that..."

Rory glanced to her left for a split second before going back to searching for Lane. "Louise and Tristin making out? Yes."

"Just checking." He paused. "Seems like everybody's hooking up these days." He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Just about," Rory agreed, her head turning from left to right. "We lost her," she sighed.

"She knows what she's doing, Rory. She does this to herself on purpose, so let's just go. It's not our problem."

* * *

"Thanks," Rory whispered to Jess.

He handed her Lane's car keys. "No problem." He opened the door to the backseat of the car, scooped Lane up, and carried her inside the Gilmore house.

"Just put her in my bed," Rory told him.

Jess walked through the house to Rory's bedroom and gently laid Lane on the bed. She turned over in her sleep, snoring loudly.

Jess grinned at Rory, until he saw the look of worry on her face. "Look, she'll be fine," he assured her. "Maybe she'll be with Dave now. I've talked to the guy a few times. He seems like he's more her type."

They left Rory's room, closing the door most of the way so as not to bother Lane. They walked into the living room.

"Maybe. I'm still worried about her, though," Rory confided to Jess.

"Rory?" Lorelai called from upstairs. "Is that you?" She started down the stairs. "You will never guess what--oh, hey Jess." Lorelai tightened the bathrobe that she wore, giving Jess a small wave. "Have fun at your party?"

Jess and Rory exchanged a look. "I'll be going now."

Rory gave him a pleading look that didn't go unnoticed by Lorelai, and Jess smirked at her.

"That good, huh?" Lorelai asked, her eyes lighting up at the thought of some good gossip.

Jess slapped a hand on Rory's shoulder. "See you tomorrow."

As soon as the door closed behind Jess, Lorelai cried, "Tell me, tell me!"

Rory laughed nervously. "What? Jess and I went to the party to get Tristin and Louise, found them making out, and bumped into Lane. She was drunk, so we decided to bring her back here so nothing happened to her."

"That's it? You guys played designated drivers? How boring," Lorelai pouted. "Are you sure there's nothing you're forgetting?"

Rory was quiet for a moment. "Positive," she lied.

* * *

In the morning, Lorelai awoke to the smell of coffee. She smiled, making her way downstairs and into the kitchen.

"I didn't know if you wanted to go to Luke's this morning or not, so I made coffee just in case."

"Bless you," Lorelai said, taking two coffee mugs out of the cabinet.

"Are we?"

"Are we what?" Lorelai returned, pouring herself some coffee.

"Ever going to Luke's again?"

Lorelai coughed, nearly choking on her coffee. "I, uh—"

"Maybe later?"

"Sweetie, if you want to go, you can. And bring me back a bagel, will you?"

"Oh, go by myself?" Rory bit her lip. Going with Lorelai was one thing, but going by herself, where there was no one around but Jess...She wasn't sure it was such a good idea, to say the least.

"Well I do believe you are old enough to cross the street by yourself..."

"Of course. It's just..." She trailed off, trying to think of something that would get her mother to go to Luke's. "If you don't go too, it'll look to Luke like you're avoiding him," she finished. She smirked at Lorelai.

"But I am."

The smirk left Rory's face. "I know, but—"

"Give it up. I know something happened between you and Jess yesterday." Lorelai lowered her voice. "Something other than dragging a drunk Lane around. You might as well tell me, before I hear it from Patty."

"Patty wasn't even there," Rory pointed out.

"So something _did_ happen," Lorelai squealed. "Out with it!"

Rory sighed. "First off, I think something was in the water yesterday..."

* * *

"What's with you?" Luke asked Jess.

"Me? What's with you?" Jess returned, side-stepping his uncle and going over to his last table for coffee refills.

"I asked first."

"Great. Next say 'I know you are, but what am I?" Jess told him, nodding thanks as the people at his table stood up and handed him their money and a small tip for him.

Luke frowned. "You don't look well. That's all I was trying to say."

"Yeah, well, I may have just screwed things up with Rory."

"Already? It's eight o'clock in the morning. And she hasn't even been in here yet."

Jess glared at him until Luke threw up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay. What happened?"

"We left the party we were at and went back to her house..."

"Oh geez, what did you do?" Luke groaned.

"Calm down. I just did the same thing you did with her mother."

Luke's face turned red. "Who told you? Dammit, it just happened last night!"

"I saw, Luke. So did Rory."

"So now you're here to make jokes. That's just great."

"Jokes? Why would I make jokes?"

* * *

"Because I ran out of the diner," Lorelai told Rory, her head falling in her hands.

"You what?"

"I ran," Lorelai repeated, picking her head back up and leaning against the back of the chair. "You didn't run, did you?"

Rory sighed. "No. I wish I had, though."

"Aw, sweets." Lorelai put a comforting hand on her daughter's arm. "I'll trade you."

Rory laughed. "So. I'm dying to know—why did you run?"

* * *

"She's scared," Luke told Jess. "Unless I read the signals wrong and when I kissed her, she got so disgusted that she ran off."

"I doubt that's it," Jess assured him, rolling his eyes. "In fact, I'll bet you ten dollars that she will come in today and apologize."

"You're on. And I bet _you_ Rory will come in today _by herself_, acting like nothing happened between you guys and wait for _you_ to bring it up."

"Alright." They shook hands.

* * *

"Mom, he already made the first move by kissing you. Don't make him come to you to make the second move, too. Because frankly, I'm not sure he will."

"Rory, I'm sorry, but I just can't go to Luke's today. I have to wait until he forgets about what happened."

"Mom, he is not going to forget," Rory exclaimed in exasperation.

"He might. Or if I wait long enough, maybe he'll think it was just a dream."

Rory grinned. "If it would have been a dream, I'm sure he wouldn't have had it end that way."

"But you can't control your—ugh, fine. I'll go. _Later_."

"Good girl. I'm going now, though, because I want breakfast."

"I can make br—" Lorelai started. "Rory? _Rory_!"

* * *

"Here comes Rory. _Alone_," Luke hissed to Jess.

Jess's heart started pounding in his chest as he looked up and caught eyes with Rory as she made her way into the diner.

He nodded at her, setting his book down and getting her a cup of coffee. Luke watched from the doorway to the kitchen.

Rory sat down on a stool at the counter across from Jess. She could feel his eyes on her, but she kept her gaze in her lap, trying to keep herself from squirming under Jess's stare.

"Hey," she greeted as he set the cup of coffee on the counter before her.

"Hey. So what'll it be today—the usual?" he asked her, doing the best he could to restrain himself from bringing up last night.

Her eyes flicked to him for a split second before going over to Luke, who was still watching them. Her eyes fell back to her lap again.

"Sure, the usual," she mumbled. "That sounds great."

Jess nodded, walking off and pushing past a smug Luke. "Give her ten more minutes," he said, giving Caesar Rory's order.

* * *

"Is Luke there?"

"Yes, Luke is here," Rory answered into her phone. "I can get him if you want. He's glaring at me from across the room, though, so he might not be in the best of moods right now."

Lorelai sighed. "I have to go to work. I'll just stop by Al's real fast."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Fine, but I really have to go. Luke looks like he's about to come kick me out."

"He can't kick you out. You're one of his two best customers."

"Luke—I know, but—it's Mom, and—oh, okay..."

"What?" Lorelai asked. _"What?"_

"He ran off when I said it was you," Rory confided. "I guess I have a few more minutes."

"Huh. Well, sweets, I guess I'll head off to Al's now..." Lorelai trailed off.

"I'm not bringing you anything home."

"Mean. Bye hun."

Rory hung up the phone, shaking her head. Jess nodded at her. "What?" he asked, smiling.

"Mom. She won't come here unless Luke leaves." She laughed. "Isn't it funny that she's avoiding him just because they kissed for five seconds?"

Jess caught her eye. "It is," he agreed. He cleared his throat, nodding at the door. "You want to go for a walk?"

"A walk?" Rory echoed, biting her lip. "With you?"

"No, with Luke," Jess said sarcastically.

"I don't know. I was just about to head home."

"Perfect. I'll walk you."

"Oh, you'll...You'll walk me. Good, okay. Sure." She stood up and started for the door, before remembering something. She turned back to see Jess standing there, holding out her purse. She walked back over, took her purse from him, and paid for the coffee.

She waited for him to tell Luke he was going on a break, and then they left.

* * *

A/N: Alright...here's the next chapter that I promised. ;D I don't know when the next one will be up, though, b/c I don't even have _one sentence_** of Chapter 14 written yet. ;x But I can guarantee you it will NOT take me 2 months to get up this next chapter. Especially since I do [or did, before the summer] most of my writing in school, and that's only 2 weeks away. So I'd expect to be doing more writing there like before, inbetween my classes. So, anyway, I'll try. I'll get the next chapter up as soon as I have it written and typed. Some reviews might help me along some...hint hint. I really appreciate the reviews you guys gave me from the last chapter—I'm glad some of you are still here reading my story. Thank you so much!! _xo_ Kimberly**


	14. Hanging By A Moment

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* * *

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A/N: Thanks for the reviews!! _Miarae_**, it's like you read my mind. LOL. I wrote that part before you reviewed. It's not quite what you suggested, though. ;x You know what I noticed while I was writing Chapter 15?? I need to start writing about more characters other than just **_Lorelai__Rory__Jess_**, and **_Luke_**. Grr. LOL they're just the most fun to write!! I'm going to try to bring in some more of the characters on the show, though. Especially **_Kirk_**. I like writing **_Kirk_**, b/c he's so funny, LOL. ;D Anyway...I hope you like the chapter, please review. ;)**

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Chapter 14

Rory and Jess walked in silence for a few minutes, until Jess finally spoke.

"So what do you think will happen between Luke and Lorelai?"

Rory shrugged. "I don't know. They've never kissed before," she responded thoughtfully.

"And what about us?" Jess asked softly, stopping.

Rory stopped, too, suddenly realizing where they were. They were standing on the bridge. She started to answer, but was interrupted by someone calling her name.

"Rory! Jess!" the voice called.

The two looked up, and Jess groaned.

"Not now..." he hissed under his breath. _Talk about bad timing._

Rory didn't look too thrilled, either. Though...she did seem a little relieved.

"Dean, hi," she greeted halfheartedly. "What are you doing here?"

"I saw you guys come out here and thought maybe you were going swimming or something."

"No one really swims in the lake here," Jess informed him with a smirk. "But you go right ahead. Have fun." He turned back to Rory.

"Thanks. Maybe I will." Dean grinned, taking off his shirt.

"You're really going swimming?" Jess asked.

"Why not?"

"Because the water's probably freezing. Only an idiot would—" Jess stopped in mid-sentence as Dean ran past him and leapt off the edge of the bridge.

Rory looked at Jess. "Did you see that?" she exclaimed.

"Yeah..."

Rory smiled. "You know...that actually looked like a lot of fun..."

"Yeah, if you want to get hypothermia and die."

"Come on. Live a little."

"I will. As long as I stay out of the water, I'm good."

"The water's not that bad," Dean told them.

Rory grinned mischievously. "Chicken," she taunted.

Jess smirked at her. "I should throw _you_ in there for that one."

"So you'd rather give me hypothermia?" she asked.

The smirk left his face. "That's not what I meant."

"Good." She pushed him backward and he fell into the water with a splash.

He resurfaced seconds later, splashing her.

"That's cold!" she exclaimed, running off down the bridge.

Jess climbed out of the water and scrambled to his feet. He ran after her, easily catching up as she reached the grass. He stopped her, scooping her up and doing an about-face.

"No. Jess, no!" she cried. "Put me down! Jess!"

Next thing she knew, she was in the water. She took a deep breath and let herself sink a few feet under the water. Then she swam under the bridge and waited, shivering.

"Rory, ha ha you got me. You can come up now."

She stifled a laugh, still waiting.

"Rory, this isn't funny! Dean—do you see her?"

Dean, who had been swimming around lazily in circles, picked his head up. "What?" He tilted his head to get the water out of his ears.

Jess swallowed. "Where is she?" he demanded.

"Who?"

"Rory!" Jess looked on both sides of the bridge, took a deep breath, and jumped.

As soon as Rory heard the splash, she swam back out from under the bridge and climbed out from the water.

Jess surfaced a few seconds later, panicked. Rory started laughing and he spun around angrily. He climbed back onto the bridge, shot her a look, and left without a word.

Rory stared after him in confusion. "Jess?" she called. "Jess—it was a joke. Come on!"

He just kept on walking.

* * *

"Sweetie, you just scared him. I'm sure he's cooled down by now," Lorelai said gently.

"But he wasn't. I called him a few seconds ago and he hung up on me."

Lorelai moved the phone to her other ear, using her free hand to sign the papers Michel put before her.

"Well, hun, that _was_ sort of mean. And not like you."

"He threw me in the water," Rory said defensively. _"And he didn't have to hang up on me. He usually tells me when he's mad."_

"Maybe he didn't know it was you?"

"He knew," Rory replied flatly.

"Lorelai."

She glanced up and froze. There at the front door of the Dragonfly, stood Luke.

"Mom? Was that Luke?"

"No, Phil, I'm going to need those new towels pronto."

"What?"

Lorelai swallowed as Luke walked over. "Phil, that's just unacceptable. I need them—"

"Who's Phil?"

"Lorelai, can we talk?" Luke asked.

"Luke, I'm really busy right now."

"What are you doing?" Rory asked.

"It won't take long," Luke assured her.

Lorelai started to squirm, feeling like she was backed into a corner. "Okay. Let me get finished up here and I'll come to the diner for lunch. We can talk there."

His face lit up. "Great. Okay...I'll see you in a bit, then."

"Bye Luke." Lorelai sighed, watching him leave.

Rory, who had gotten quiet as she listened to her mother and Luke's conversation, asked, _"What now?"_

"Now, Phil, I have lunch with Luke."

"Stop calling me Phil."

"What did I do?" Lorelai cried suddenly, dropping the pen in her hand.

"You tried to rename me Phil," Rory answered.

"No," Lorelai shook her head. "No, I made a date with Luke. Why? Why did I do that?"

"A lunch date," Rory corrected.

"Right. A lunch date. He's going to want to talk about the kiss, isn't he?" She slumped down in the seat at the desk until Michel glared at her and motioned for her to get off 'his seat'.

"'Fraid so."

Lorelai groaned.

"What are you going to do?" Rory wanted to know.

"I don't know. I'm thinking I'll use the 'I don't talk with food in my mouth' excuse and just keep stuffing my face so I don't have to talk."

"That sounds like a plan," Rory laughed. _"Except, if you want to fit through the door when you come home tonight, you might want to think of something else."_

"You can go for me," Lorelai suggested. "He'll never know the difference."

"I really don't think—"

"No, hear me out. You can borrow my clothes, you can do that hair twirly thing I taught you...It's a foolproof plan."

"Sorry, I have my own plans. And they don't include pretending to be you."

"Are you sure? You can think of it as 'dress up'. You used to love to play dress up."

"As fun as that sounds, I think I'm going to try to talk to Jess again. And maybe hang out at Lane's afterward. Have fun at lunch, though. Let me know how it goes."

"I will," Lorelai promised. "Wish me luck."

"Me too."

"Good luck," they said together.

* * *

Lorelai hung up the phone and took a minute to finish her paperwork. She had a million thoughts running through her mind. She tried to imagine how the conversation with Luke would go, so she could better prepare herself. She came up with a blank, realizing that she had _no_ idea whatsoever of how the conversation would go.

"Luke..." She whispered his name, thinking that maybe just the sound of his name might give her a clue as what to expect. No such luck.

Looks like she was going to have to just figure things out as they came up.

She sighed, walking over to the kitchen and letting Sookie and Michel know that she was going to lunch. Then she was off, slowly making her way to Luke's.

* * *

A/N: I hope you don't get mad at me for having Jess be mad at Rory. I'll make it up to you guys in the next chapter, though!! ;P

* * *


	15. Since You've Been Gone

A/N: I know some of y'all found it kinda odd that Jess reacted that way w/ Rory, but keep in mind that he panicked. And he's not used to letting it all out there like that, so he probably got a little embarrassed. And of course there's the fact that he's in love with her. ;P That's just my take on it, though. But what do I know?, I'm just the writer. LOL ;D

* * *

**Chapter 15**

Luke glanced up as Lorelai entered the diner. He nodded at her in acknowledgement before going to deliver the plates in his hands.

"Hey. I'll get your coffee in a second."

"Thanks, Luke." Lorelai's eyes scanned the diner. There wasn't a single empty seat.

"Where's Jess?"

"Upstairs, probably."

"Why isn't he helping?"

"Who knows?" Luke asked, brushing past her to grab the coffeepot. "I've been so busy I haven't gotten a chance to drag him down here."

"I'll do it," Lorelai volunteered. "I don't have a place to sit, anyway."

She went upstairs, knocking on the door to the apartment.

"Come in," came a muffled reply.

Opening the door, Lorelai immediately spotted Jess. He was sprawled out on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He looked like he lost his best friend.

"Hey sweetie."

He glanced over at her, making a face. "Oh. Hey Lorelai."

"Luke could use some help downstairs..." she trailed off.

"Okay. I'll be down in a minute." He made no move to get up.

Lorelai sat on the edge of his bed. "Why don't you just call her?"

"Who?" he asked stubbornly, moving over so she would have more room.

"Jess. She's fine. It was just a joke, and she feels bad about it. Stop being so melodramatic."

"I know," he said, ignoring her last comment. He sat up. "Things are so weird right now."

"I know," she echoed. "It'll get better, though."

"When?"

"Soon."

He sighed, glancing over at her. "Are things between you and Luke getting better?"

"They might after today," she responded with a tight-lipped smile. "I came here to talk to him, but it's pretty busy out there. I might as well—"

"I'll take over downstairs for awhile," Jess offered. "Wait here, I'll send him up."

Lorelai looked at him in surprise. "Oh. Thanks."

Jess nodded, standing up and walking over to the door. As his hand reached for the doorknob, Lorelai stopped him.

"Call her," she told him.

He paused, then opened the door and went downstairs.

* * *

"Lorelai," Luke greeted as he walked into the apartment.

"Uh, hey Luke." Lorelai nodded at something over his shoulder. "Hey Kirk."

Luke spun around. "Kirk, what the hell are you doing up here?" he demanded.

"I followed you."

"I see that. Why?"

"I need to use the bathroom," Kirk announced. "I have never noticed one downstairs, but then again I have never had this problem at your diner before, either. I don't think I've ever been up here. I thought maybe the bathroom was up here."

"It's not, Kirk. Go back downstairs."

"It's not? Where do you go then?"

Luke frowned. "I don't care, go outside if you want. Will you please just—"

"What's in there?" Kirk pointed.

"That's the bathroom, Kirk. _There_ it is. Go."

Kirk hurried into the bathroom and shut the door, before Luke could change his mind.

Luke turned back to Lorelai. "About last night..."

Kirk opened the bathroom door again. "Are you just going to stand there? I can't go if I know someone's right outside listening."

"We're not listening, Kirk," Lorelai assured him, trying not to laugh.

"Okay, look. We're going over here." Luke pulled Lorelai into the corner of the apartment.

"Okay." Kirk shut the door.

"Anyway, about last night..."

Lorelai bit her lip. "Uh huh?"

"I'm sorry."

Lorelai frowned in confusion, sitting back on Jess's bed. "You're sorry?"

"About what happened. I just misread some things, and—"

"Luke, stop," Lorelai interrupted. "You didn't misread anything."

"Then why...?"

"I got freaked out."

"Why?" he asked again.

"Because it was you. It was us. What if things don't work out? What if we can't stand to be in the same room together? Where will I get my coffee fix?" Her mouth curved upward into a small smile.

"I don't think you have to worry about that, Lorelai."

"I don't?"

"No."

She didn't know what to say. "Oh..." she trailed off.

She stood up and stepped in front of him.

"You think Jess can manage on his own for awhile?"

Luke took a deep breath. "I think he'll be fine," he replied, his voice low. It sent chills down Lorelai's spine, and she shivered. Luke placed his hands on her arms, gently rubbing them up and down to warm her up.

"Better?"

"Better..." Lorelai confirmed, gazing at him from lowered eyelashes. She licked her lips, slowly leaning forward.

Luke pulled back, and she mirrored his movement, confused. "I just want you to know, I didn't ask you here today just so I could—"

"I know."

Luke nodded, placing a hand on the small of her back and pulling her back over to him. As they both started to lean in again, the bathroom door burst open, and they jumped back guiltily. Kirk came out of the bathroom.

"You have a very clean bathroom, Luke," he announced. He looked back and forth from Luke to Lorelai, oblivious of the tension in the room.

"Thanks, Kirk," Luke told him. "I'm glad my bathroom meets your approval."

Lorelai grinned. "Well...I better be getting back to the Inn now." She glanced at Luke. "I'll see you later?"

"Later," he agreed, watching her leave. He scowled at Kirk. _"Out."_

"What did I do?" Kirk wondered aloud, as Luke shooed him downstairs.

Luke sighed, shaking his head. Somehow, despite the annoyance that is Kirk, a smile still found its way onto Luke's face.

"I called the diner, but no one answered." Rory said glumly, sitting on her bed across from Lane. "So now, instead of hanging up on me, he's just going to ignore the phone altogether."

"You don't know that's what happened. He might be in the shower, for all you know. And Luke could be too busy to answer the phone."

"Maybe."

"He'll come around," Lane promised. "He always does."

There was a knock on the front door, and Rory peeked out her window. "Speak of the devil," she murmured. "There he is."

"Did I call that one, or what?" Lane laughed, standing up and starting to gather her things.

"What? Where are you going?" Rory cried, placing a hand on Lane's arm.

"Um, I'm going home..." Lane gave her friend a hug. "Call me later and tell me what happened!"

Rory nodded. "Okay...See you later."

Lane hurried out the backdoor and Rory opened the front door.

"Jess," she feigned surprise. "Hi."

"Hey," he said, somewhat shyly. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Can I come in?"

"Of course. You don't even have to ask," she reminded him.

"I'm sorry for hanging up on you before," he apologized.

She waved a hand through the air, narrowly missing his head. "Oh, sorry." She blushed as his head moved back, away from her hand. "Anyway, forget about it."

He nodded, glancing around the house as if he'd never seen it before. He picked up a picture from a table near the living room that showed him and Rory with their arms around each other's waists. They smiled at the camera, their faces glowing. That was just last year. A lot had happened since then.

Rory walked over and peered over his shoulder at the picture.

"That was a nice day," she commented softly.

Jess put the picture down and turned around to face her.

"It was," he agreed. They looked into each other's eyes, their faces inches apart and growing closer.

A warning bell went off in Rory's head. At the last second, right before their lips met, she turned her head. Jess's lips grazed her cheek, and he leaned back slightly.

"What's wrong?"

"This doesn't feel right," she replied. She shook her head. "I can't do it."

"There's nothing wrong with this. Us," he told her.

"I..." Rory paused, swallowing the lump forming in her throat. "I don't feel the same way as you do, Jess."

As soon as she said the words, she instantly regretted them. Something in Jess's expression changed. He blinked, and a guarded look came over his face. It's almost as if she could see the walls he was putting up around him. Rory was usually the one that he opened up _to_, not protected himself _from_. She couldn't even read his expression; couldn't tell what he was feeling. It saddened her that he would block himself from her like that, but then again—what did she expect?

"I don't want things to change between us," she whispered. _Too late_. "Is that so wrong?"

He didn't answer.

Maybe it was. Maybe they were meant to be together, meant to take the plunge. Maybe it had just been a matter of time before their friendship grew into something more. And maybe it was wrong for her to deny it.

"Don't be mad," she pleaded, pushing her thoughts to the back of her mind. She couldn't go changing her mind now; she couldn't take the words back. "Just...let's forget about all of this."

"Forget," Jess said slowly, as if he didn't understand.

"Not forget," Rory corrected herself quickly. _Wrong word_. "Just...go back to the way things used to be."

"If that's what you want."

Rory nodded. "I think it's for the best."

Jess nodded. "Okay." He cupped her chin with one hand and kissed her. One last kiss before they 'forgot' about the past few days. When he pulled away, Rory just stared at him, unsure of what to do.

Despite her earlier thoughts, she knew she was doing the right thing—that she had to stop things before someone got hurt. She had seen it happen with so many people in her life, and she didn't want to add her own name to the list. But as she watched Jess leave, she wondered if pushing him away really was the right thing to do after all.

* * *

**A/N:** _miarae_**: I just love your ideas so much, I had to use another one!! LOL. I thought the kiss part fit in perfectly. I think I like the ending more, though. ;P Thanks for the idea.**

**Sorry if this chapter didn't meet up to your expectations [if you had any]. I wrote the chapter fine, but when I was typing it, I changed a couple of parts b/c they sounded stupid. And I'm not so sure that after I changed them, they came up much better. ;/ So...yeah. I'm running out of things to happen in this story. I had an idea for the next chapter, but I didn't use that one, either, b/c it sounded stupid also. I'm seriously running low on ideas. I've got 3 pages written past this, so...gimme some reviews and hopefully I'll get inspired to finish the next chapter and Maybe finish the story soon, too?? Within maybe a couple of chapters??**


	16. Can't Take My Eyes Off You

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews!! Sorry I haven't updated in a few weeks. It's been kind of a hectic week w/ school and work. ;/ But as soon as I re-read my Chapter 17 a few more times and then type it up, I'll post that too.**

**sarahmariano** : sorry I made you cry. lol j/j.

**Miarae** : thanks for all the ideas. I kind of am going to use one of 'em, but...it's a little different, lol.

**lilyLOVESwb** : I'm going to do something to that effect, too. ;P thanks for the review

**everyone else**: I really appreciate the reviews, thanks!!

* * *

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* * *

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**Chapter 16**

"That is so sad."

The next day Rory went to Lane's house and filled her in on what had happened with Jess. She had planned to call her after, but was so upset over everything, she completely forgot.

Lane really felt for her friend. She knew Rory hadn't planned to fall in love with her best friend, but somewhere along the line it had happened. But she had never had a boyfriend before, and she was afraid to get hurt. It was understandable, in Lane's opinion. She, too, used to be like that. Then she found Zach. He invited her to join his band, which she did, of course. She lived for their band practices and gigs. Well, they had really only had the one, but it had been awesome and she couldn't wait for the next one.

"Lane?"

Lane focused on her friend. "Sorry," she apologized sheepishly.

"That's okay. I have to get going, anyway. Chilton calls."

Lane stood up. "I really miss you at school. Everyone else is so boring. And I even miss Jess, if you can believe it."

'I believe it,' Rory thought. She just grinned at Lane and turned to lead the way downstairs.

* * *

"Jess!" Rory called from the bottom step of the stairway to his and Luke's apartment.

Luke poked his head out of the backroom. "He already left," he told her.

"He did? Why? I'm not even late."

"Said something about needing to talk to the teacher before class. He took the bus about half an hour ago."

"I wish he would have told me. I could have gone early, too."

"Sorry. I thought you knew."

"That's okay. Can I just get some coffee to go, please?" she asked, trying to shrug away the nagging feeling that Jess left early to avoid her.

Luke made her coffee and then went into the backroom to finish his morning chores before he opened the diner.

Rory sipped her coffee quietly as she made her way to the door. She sighed. She hadn't wanted it to be like this. Just because they weren't dating did not mean they had to give up the friendship part of their relationship, too. Oh well, she would talk to him about it later.

* * *

"Hey Mary."

Rory had never welcomes the nickname from Tristin as much as she did at that moment. Jess had been avoiding her in the halls and had been mute in the classrooms. Even Paris, who seemed to get great satisfaction from getting under Rory's skin, had left her alone today. It had been a very boring day. Until now.

"Tristin," Rory grinned. "Hi."

"Hey. Where's your other half?"

Frowning, she pointed out, "I'm a whole person. I don't have an 'other half'. This _is_ my 'other half'."

He raised his hands in surrender. "Calm down, I was just joking."

Rory slammed her locker closed. "I know, sorry. I just—"She stopped as she spotted Jess trying to sneak past her. He was headed for the front entrance to the school. Rory called out to him, but he didn't answer. He just picked up his pace.

Tristin watched the scene before him, frowning. "What was that all about? Are you guys in a fight?"

"No," Rory said glumly. "Not exactly. I'll catch up with you later, okay?"

Tristin nodded, watching as she hurried after Jess.

* * *

"I thought we were okay."

Jess glanced over his shoulder at his best friend. "We are," he said coolly, continuing his path to the bus stop.

"Then what's with today? You were avoiding me all day."

"I was not. I was preoccupied."

"Why are you taking the bus home?" she demanded as they stopped at the bus stop.

"Rory—"

"No. Jess—"

She was interrupted by the bus driver as he pulled up, opened the doors, and called, "You coming?"

"No, he's not," Rory responded for Jess, and the bus driver drove off.

Rory stared Jess in the eye. "Is this how you're going to be now?"

"How would you like me to be?" he asked coldly. "Tell me and I'll change."

"I don't want you to change!" Rory exclaimed. "I want everything to go back to—"

"It can't," he interrupted.

"But—"

"Let's go home," Jess told her, sighing.

Rory, defeated, following him to her car.

On the way home, it was pretty quiet. Rory knew it was mostly her fault that things were the way they were, but she couldn't take all the blame for this one. Jess had a way of blowing things out of proportion and placing all of the blame on her when something went wrong.

And she was getting sick of it.

* * *

Rory dropped Jess off at the diner and was stopped at a red light on her way home, when she spotted Dean crossing the street in front of her. Her first instinct was to duck and try to hide from him. She actually might have, had he not recognized her car and waved just then.

Rory groaned, rolling down her window as he made his way over to her car.

"Hey!"

"Hey...Dean."

"Where you headed?"

"Home," Rory replied. "What about you?"

"I was going to the library. Homework." He made a face and Rory grinned.

Even though the library wasn't too far away, as everything in Stars Hollow was within walking distance, Rory felt obligated to ask, "Need a lift?"

Half an hour later, Rory sat next to Dean at the library with books sprawled out in front of them.

"I just don't get how all of this happened. I mean, he and I were best friends, and now..."

"I don't know," Dean told her, bored. He picked his head off his arm and straightened up, trying to get comfortable in his chair. He almost wished he had pretended not to see her when he was walking by. For the past thirty minutes, all he heard about was 'Jess this' and 'Jess that'. It was getting a little irritating.

And he didn't even know her all that well! Shouldn't she be saving all this ranting for her close friends, who knew what she was going through? All Dean knew was that Jess was the first friend he had made in Stars Hollow. True, Jess was rude to him half the time, but it appeared to Dean that he was like that to everybody. Even Rory.

"I need to stop obsessing over this, don't I?"

'Yes!' Dean took a breath. "Maybe you should try moving on. You know, dating other guys?" he asked, hoping she would get the subtext. She didn't.

"What would that accomplish?"

Dean sighed. This was going to take more work than he thought.

* * *

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**A/N: Hope you liked the chapter...The next few should be even better...**


	17. This I Swear

**A/N: sorry it took soo long to get this up. ;xi'd love you forever if you reviewed...**

**_muse-of-the-fairies_...**please don't shoot my head off, i've grown pretty fond of it in my 19 years...lol ;P

**-**

**Chapter 17**

**-**

The next few days at school, things seemed to have gotten a little better for Rory. Jess wasn't totally ignoring her anymore, Tristin was Tristin, and Paris was, well, Paris.

After school, Rory met up with Jess. "Ready to go?" she asked. He nodded.

"What are you doing tonight?" Rory wanted to know.

"Nothing springs to mind. Why?"

"Well Dean and I were thinking about going to that Josh Hartnett movie that just came out. It looks really cheesy-creepy and I plan on mocking it mercilessly."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"We want you to come with us."

"Tagging along on my best friend's date doesn't exactly scream 'fun'," he stated sarcastically.

"It's not a date," she insisted. "It's a movie."

"That's okay. I have plans of my own."

"But you just said—"

"I just remembered something," he replied.

"What are you doing?" Rory asked curiously. They usually either hung out together after school, or he was working. She was more than a little curious to see what plans he had made that didn't include her. She didn't even think about the fact that she had made plans with someone else, also.

Jess dodged her question, however, if not ignoring it completely. "Have fun on your non-date with Dean."

"Have fun with your plans," she returned, trying to act like she couldn't care less that he didn't confide in her.

"You coming?" he asked as she pulled up to the diner.

"I'll stop by later," she promised.

"Alright. See you." Jess started to head inside, and Rory backed up and drove off.

As soon as she turned the corner, Jess turned around and started walking in the opposite direction, away from the diner.

-

"Mama, I got it!" Lane called as the doorbell rang. She glanced out her window and waved to Jess, before hurrying out of the room.

She was too late. Mrs. Kim got there first, and she opened the door with a frown on her face.

"Yes?"

"Hi Mrs. Kim, can I please talk to Lane?"

"Lane no have time to talk to boys. Goodbye." She tried to shut the door, but Jess put his foot out and stopped it from closing in his face.

Mrs. Kim opened the door again, a surprised look on her face. "Move."

"Mrs. Kim," he started again, "I need to talk to Lane."

"Will you try to kiss her?"

"What?" _Was she serious?_ One look at her face and he got his answer. _"No, Ma'am."_

"Very well." She reluctantly moved aside to let him inside, and Lane tried to hold back a laugh at Jess's expression.

"Come on Jess." She glanced over at her mother. "We'll be upstairs if you need us, Mama."

"No. You sit there, boy sit there," Mrs. Kim pointed at the kitchen table, to two opposite-facing chairs. "No kissing."

"You hear that, Lane? Hands off," Jess joked.

Mrs. Kim's mouth dropped open, and Jess help up his hands. "I was joking, Mrs. Kim. Lane would never do—"

She pointed at him. "I'm watching you," she warned. "I see everything."

She stared at him for a moment longer, then finally left the room.

"Huh."

"Okay, you have ten minutes. And, trust me, she's keeping count." Lane grinned. "To what do I owe this unexpected visit?"

Jess glanced around the room. Looked at the ceiling, looked at the floor, out the window—everywhere but at her.

"Or should I say 'whom'?" she pressed lightly.

His gaze finally flicked over to her. "You know me too well."

"I know _both of you_ too well," she told him. "Like right now I know she misses you."

"I just saw her. She dropped me off at home."

"That's not what I meant," Lane pointed out as Jess sank into a chair at the kitchen table.

"I know."

"You're not happy."

"Gee, what gave me away?" Jess asked sarcastically.

"So call her."

"I can't," Jess replied, defeated.

"Who said? I'm sure she's just sitting at home, waiting for—" Lane stopped in mid-sentence as Jess started shaking his head. "What?"

"She's out with Dean."

"Dean? That creepy guy she said that acted like a stalker?"

"That's the one."

Lane frowned. "What's that about?"

"Beats the hell out of me. She and him are friends now."

"Someone sounds a little bitter," Lane laughed.

Jess half-smiled at her. "Am I that obvious?"

"Come on, let's go."

"Where?"

"You'll see. I know just the place that will help..."

Jess stood. "Lead the way."

-

Rory entered the diner and Luke brushed past her, arms laden with plates. "I'll be right there," he promised, motioning for her to sit down.

"Where's Jess?" Rory asked as her eyes scanned the crowded diner.

"Hell if I know. He hardly ever helps out anymore. Which is just great, because it's been busy all day."

"Oh."

Luke finished passing out the plates, then hurried over to her. "You ready to order?"

"Just a coffee to go, please," she told him.

"Coming right up." He made the coffee and poured it into a cup, handing it to her. She paid him and left.

"Can I get some more—"

"No, Kirk."

"I'm thirsty," Kirk whined.

Luke glared at him. "No you're not, you're just trying to make yourself have to go to the bathroom so you can go upstairs again," he said, reaching over to give someone a refill on their coffee. "I don't know what weird fascination you have with my apartment, but it ends here."

"It's not my fault I have to go to the bathroom!" Kirk complained.

"It is if you drink an enormous amounts of coffee," Luke argued. "That stuff's gonna kill you someday."

"I have to go!"

"So go! _Outside_."

Kirk walked outside, glanced back at Luke, and took off running down the street.

Luke went over to Miss Patty, who was watching silently. "What can I get you?"

"Nothing, sweetie, I'm not hungry."

"Coffee, then?" Luke offered.

"No thank you."

He stared at her. "If you're not going to order..."

"Oh!" Miss Patty laughed, as if she had almost forgotten the reason behind her little pit stop on the way to her dance studio. "I just wanted to say congratulations." She winked at him.

"On what?" he asked, his pen poised over the pad of paper in his hand.

"You and Lorelai, of course."

"What are you talking about?" he asked, going to put up the coffeepot. "What about us?"

She followed him. "Aren't you two together now?" She went on, when he didn't immediately answer. "Kirk said he walked in on you two in the shower."

Luke's face grew bright red. "He did not."

"But he told—"

"I don't care what he told you, it didn't happen," Luke insisted.

"Well, maybe the story got mixed up along the way," Miss Patty suggested.

"Along the—" Luke's eyes widened. "Who all did he tell this to?"

"I'm not sure," she replied, wondering if she shouldn't have even said anything. "Babette told me, Gypsie told her, and Jackson told her. I just assumed Jackson heard it from Sookie, who heard it from Lorelai. That's not what happened?"

"No!"

"Oh dear. What really happened?"

"Lorelai and I were upstairs _talking_, and Kirk came upstairs because he had to go to the bathroom. So _he_ was in the bathroom, not us."

"That's all?" She looked disappointed. "I think I like Babette's version better," she mumbled.

Luke took a deep breath. "I'm sorry that didn't actually happen," he said flatly.

She winked at him again. "I'll bet you are," she said with a chuckle.

Luke's face turned even more red. He tried to play it off by just rolling his eyes at her comment, but he knew he was only kidding himself. _He_ liked Babette's version of the story better, too.

"Oh, I'm embarrassing you," Miss Patty noticed, trying not to laugh again. "So did anything come from that kiss?"

"I would ask how you know about that, but you're Patty. You know everything."

"Well not _everything_," she replied modestly.

"Everything people want kept secret."

"I can keep secrets," she told him. "Talk to me. Maybe I can help."

"Not today, but thanks."

She shook her head. "It's not good to keep all those feelings bottled up inside you, you know."

"Thanks for the tip," Luke said sarcastically. "Are you ready to order now?"


	18. In The Air Tonight

_

* * *

A/N: Thanks for the reviews!! Aw, I've soo moved on to being a RoryLogan 'shipper, lol. But he's not in this story. ;/ sigh My next story just might have to include Mr. Huntzberger...lol. But for this story, it's all about the Literati goodness. ;) I hope there's still some loyal readers out there??  
**BTW – here's a shameless plug. Don't worry, I'll make it quick. I started a new website the other day...on Gilmore Girls fanfics!! Of course MINE are all going to be up there I might, in fact, include some short one-parters that I don't post on but I need some of your stories as well. There are so many good ones, it would take forever for me to personally ask each and every one of you if I could host your story on my site. So I will let you submit them yourself. I would really appreciate it if you guys would check out my site. Click on my pen name for the link. Okay, sorry about that, on to the story.****

* * *

**_

**Chapter 18**

Lorelai entered the diner hesitantly, her eyes quickly scanning the room for Luke. She breathed a sigh of relief when she didn't find him. Not that she was avoiding him, of course. She had just somehow managed to not run into him for the past few days. She wasn't sure what would happen when they saw each other. A part of her wanted to find out, but the other part was scared.

She wasn't dense. She knew she had bad luck with relationships. What if she dated Luke and things didn't work out?

"God, now I sound like Rory."

"What's wrong with that?"

Lorelai jumped. "You scared me!" she exclaimed. "I thought you were Luke."

"Not even close," Jess replied.

Lane shifted her weight on the stool next to Lorelai, as Jess poured her some coffee. "Well, a _little_ close. He is your guardian, after—"

"You talking about me?"

Lorelai froze, her gaze slowly moving over to Luke, who stood in the doorway to the kitchen. Their eyes locked.

"Lorelai," Luke started, "Can we talk?"

"Again?"

"Sorry, I didn't know it was such a _chore_ to talk to me."

Lorelai placed her hand on his. "It's not," she assured him.

Jess glanced back and forth between the two, rolling his eyes. This was his cue to leave. He nodded at Lane, starting for the door. Luke stopped him.

"Where are you going?"

"Out."

"Out where?"

"Out_side_," Jess returned. He turned to Luke once he reached the door. "It's dead in here anyway."

"Fine. Be back by eleven."

Jess made a face and Luke sighed. "Okay, midnight. But that's it. I mean it, Jess."

Jess left, with Lane trailing behind, and Luke and Lorelai were left to themselves. Luke half-expected Kirk to, once again, come bursting through the door claiming to need to use the restroom, but Kirk never came. It was just Luke and Lorelai. Alone at last.

"What did you want to talk about, Luke?" she asked._'Ask her out!'_ a voice screamed inside his head. _'Do it!'_ He cleared his throat, opening his mouth to respond, but finding himself unable to.

She waited expectantly for a moment, then, realizing he wasn't going to talk first, she spoke up for him. "Luke, would you like to maybe catch a movie sometime? We could even go to dinner first, if you wanted. Give you a break from serving other people for a change."

She watched his face for a reaction. His eyes sort of lit up, and he nodded.

"That—that would be great!" he told her.

Lorelai laughed at his enthusiasm. "Okay...say, Friday? Eight o'clock?"

"I will be there," he promised.

She nodded, smiling. "Me too."

* * *

"Where are we going?" Jess asked Lane, glancing out the window.

"It's a surprise. Hold on, we're almost there." She parked a few minutes later. "Alright. We're here."

"Where's 'here'?"

They were parked in front of a large white building. There were maybe ten other cars parked around them.

"Don't worry. Zach and I used to come here all the time."

"Are we even still in Stars Hollow?"

Lane grinned. "We're right outside of Stars Hollow."

Curiosity getting the best of him, Jess followed her out of the car. He tried to ignore the bad feeling he was starting to get in the pit of his stomach. And, as they reached the front door to the building and Lane did a secret knock on the door, Jess couldn't help but wonder what he was getting himself into. And how Lane had seemed to change so much overnight.

She had never used to be into this type of thing. Going to the 'bad side' of the town and going to a rave, or a kegger, or whatever the hell they were at. Wherever they were, all he knew was that he was now having second thoughts.

"What is this place?" he asked Lane as the door was opened by a gruff-looking, rather large man.

The large man smiled at Lane. "Long time no see. You brought company this time?"

"Yeah. He needed some fun—it's been a hard week."

"Hey, you don't have to tell me," he replied, stepping aside to let her and Jess past.

Lane smiled again. "See you later, Jake."

He nodded at her, slamming the door closed to wait for the next person to show up.

"Lane, I don't know about this place..."

She glanced at him. "Don't worry," she repeated. "I've been here lots of times. Nobody judges you here."

"I don't care who judges me. I—"

"Don't be a wuss," Lane laughed. She walked further into the room, pulling him with her. They rounded a corner, went through another door, and the blast of music, smoke, and the smell of alcohol hit Jess full force.

"You come here often, huh?"

Lane nodded. "Don't look so shocked. I party."

"Clearly."

"You know, we don't have to stay. I thought you of all people would appreciate this place."

"I'm not that guy anymore," he said, glancing around the room.

"I know...I just thought that you needed some help getting your mind off Rory."

At the mention of her name, Jess sighed. "You're right."

They walked over to where the keg was, and Lane filled two cups, handing one to him. Jess reached for the cup, but pulled back when he heard Rory's voice in his head. _"I can barely even look at you when you are like this," _she had told him once, when he had called her to pick him up. She had threatened to leave him there the next time he called her for a designated driver, but then again she said that every time. He still couldn't get over the look of disappointment he had seen on her face the last time he had stumbled into her car, after having been sober for three months.

He vowed not to overdo it tonight. He knew his limits, so it shouldn't be hard. Besides, if he got wasted tonight, who would he call to pick him up? He certainly couldn't call Rory or Lorelai, and Luke was out of the question, too. And Lane would probably need a designated driver tonight, too, with the way she had been going at it lately.

Jess stared at the drink in his hand. One cup wouldn't hurt, right?

* * *

"What are you smiling at?" Rory asked.

It was later that night, and Lorelai popped her head into her daughter's room.

"Is it dirty?" Rory asked.

"Nope. Luke asked me out."

"Wow."

"Well, technically I asked him out. But he looked so tense and nervous, I just had to give the guy a break."

Rory grinned. "So when's the big day?"

"Friday."

"It's about time."

Lorelai laughed. "What are you doing this weekend? You have plans with Jess?"

"No, he and I seem to be taking a break from each other or something. I think he's been hanging out with Lane."

"Lane's a good kid, though. And at least you know she would never do anything with Jess that would jeopardize her friendship with you."

Rory sighed, thankful for the reassurance, even though she knew her mother was right. "I know."

"So what do you say you and I do something this weekend, just the two of us? We never do anything anymore. I'm booked on Friday, but Saturday and Sunday I'm yours, babe."

"You know, I was going to ask you if you wanted to go on a roadtrip."

"Ooh, where? Paris?" Lorelai's eyes lit up.

"Mom, you can't drive to Paris."

"Oh, shoot. Well okay, where did you have in mind?"

"Boston," Rory replied, preparing herself for her mother's reply.

"Rory..."

"I know, you and Dad are fighting and everything, but you're going to have to see him again eventually. He will be at my graduation."

"I'll sit in the front. I won't see anyone but you, sweets." Lorelai's lips curved into a small smile. "Christopher and I aren't fighting, though. He and I just exchanged some not-so-nice words the last time he came. I didn't even mean half of what I said."

"Last time he came, you two got along fine," Rory pointed out.

"Actually...he was down here last month."

Rory's mouth dropped open. "What?"

"He was here for business. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but—"

"You know how much I wanted to see him, and he comes down here and you don't even tell me?" Rory demanded.

"It's not like that," Lorelai protested. "I—"

"I can't believe you. And now you went and pissed him off so he'll _never_ come back."

"I wouldn't say _never_. I'm sure he'll—" Lorelai stopped as Rory glared at her. "I'll call him. I'll call him and tell him—"

"Just forget it."

"Rory, sweetie, I'm sorry."

"Fine. I'm going to bed." Rory went to her room, shutting the door behind her.

Lorelai just stood there, stared at the closed door with a pained expression on her face.

* * *

_A/N: Sorry if the chapter's a little messed up...I'm on the QuickEdit thing right now and it keeps screwing up, like with the line spacing and italics and stuff. Grr. lol. So, sorry if it's messed up. ;D_


	19. Sooner or Later

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A/N: Thanks for reading and sticking with this story. Almost to the big 2-0. How exciting. LOL. Thanks a lot for the reviews...I hope to finish this story in a few chapters, if possible. I'm very eager to start a new story or continue with one of the many new stories I have started. I think I might take a break from Gilmore Girls, though, and try finished my Roswell or OC stories. We'll see. Anyway, on with the chapter.

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**Chapter 19**

"Shh!" Lane hissed, giggling as the bell above the door to the diner jingled. Jess and Lane stumbled into the diner, and Lane shut the door behind them.

"What are you going to make, Chef Jess?"

He took a sip of the bottle in his right hand. "That depends on what time it is," he replied.

"Shh!"

Jess put a finger to his lips, turning on the light in the kitchen. He glanced at the clock.

"Three o'clock. Time for breakfast! What will you have?"

Lane tilted her head to the side, tapping her index finger on her chin thoughtfully. "Pancakes!" she exclaimed finally.

"You got it," he told her, searching the shelves for a mix but coming up empty-handed. "No problem. We'll improvise."

"Leave it to you to use big words when you're drunk," Lane laughed.

Jess took another drink. "I'm not drunk," he protested. His eyes fell on the nearly empty bottle in his hand. "Okay, maybe a little."

Lane grabbed it from him, finishing it off and dropping the empty bottle into the sink. It fell with a loud crash, and two seconds later they heard a huge thud and heavy footsteps running down the stairs.

Luke appeared in the doorway, and he stared at them.

"Uh oh. Busted," Lane said, trying not to laugh.

"Shh. Don't move. Maybe he didn't see us yet," Jess told her. He tried to stand still, but ended up almost falling over.

Lane laughed, but Luke looked less than amused. He shook his head, disappointment showing on his face.

"How did you two get home? Please tell me someone drove you."

Lane leaned over to Jess. "I think he saw us. Can I move now?"

Jess nodded.

Lane let out a breath, as if she had been holding it the whole time. Laughing, she announced, "Chef Luke is here. You don't have to fix breakfast anymore."

"In that case," Jess turned to Luke, "I'll have the pancakes."

"It's three o'clock in the morning. I'm not making you pancakes," Luke snapped.

"Eggs then?" Jess glanced at Lane. "How do you like them?"

She thought about it for a moment before answering. "On a plate," she finally replied, bursting out laughing.

Luke gritted his teeth. "Upstairs. _Now_."

Jess shrugged at Lane, stumbling up the stairs. Lane watched him until he disappeared into the apartment.

"Go easy on him, Luke. He's not himself."

"Lane, you will not bring him back down with you, you hear me?" He looked her in the eye. "if you want to screw up your life, you leave him out of it. I mean it."

Lane's eyes narrowed, but she said nothing. She moved to storm out of the diner, but Luke grabbed her arm.

"You're not leaving here drunk like this. You'll stay here tonight."

She let out a sigh of impatience and irritation, stomping past him and marching up the stairs.

Luke shook his head, slowly trudging up the stairs after her.

* * *

Rory woke up in the morning exhausted. She had hardly gotten any sleep at all.

Yawning, she turned to her nightstand. Did a double take. Eleven-thirty? She couldn't even remember the last time she had slept this late.

She reached over for her cell phone. No calls. She wondered what Jess had ended up doing last night.

Getting out of bed, she dressed quickly and headed off to Luke's.

* * *

"Jess?" Rory tapped him on the shoulder.

He groaned, turning over on the couch.

"Why are you sleeping on the couch?" she asked him, sitting on the edge of the couch and peering down at him.

He refused to wake up. He rolled over again, nearly knocking her to the floor in the process.

"Okay, I can take a—"

_"Uuunnhhhh."_

Rory frowned, slowing turning around. "Lane?"

Lane lay in Jess's bed. She sat up slowly, blinked a few times, and looked around. "What the..."

"Lane."

Lane's eyes snapped to Rory. She stretched. "Did we have a slumber party?" she asked with a grin.

"Whatever happened last night, I wasn't invited," Rory replied, turning her back to her friend. She absentmindedly pushed some stray hairs out of Jess's face.

He opened one eye, peering at her. His arm flew to his face, covering his eyes.

"Jess, it's noon. Time to get up."

After a few more minutes of prodding, he finally lowered his arm and got off of the couch.

"What are you doing here?" he asked Rory.

"Crashing a slumber party?" she guessed.

"Wha—" Jess's eyes fell on Lane. As the night's events suddenly came crashing back to him, so did his mind-numbing headache. He closed his eyes as his head throbbed. Groaning, he replied, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Rory gazed into his eyes for a moment, then she took a step back. "No. Jess, you didn't..."

"I just had—"

"A few. That's what you _always_ say."

"Don't make this bigger than it is, Rory," he said flatly, as if he didn't care about what he had done. But he did. Of course he did. The look on her face at that moment was reason enough to make him regret the past night's little party. However, the damage was already done and there was no going back now.

She just shook her head, looking down. He didn't get it.

He wanted to hold her, tell her he'd never do it again, ease her fears. The problem was, he had told her that the last time, and he _had_ done it again. He didn't know what to say this time, except,

"I'm sorry."

"How can you say that, Jess? How can you say that after what happened to your parents?"

"I don't drive after I—"

A tear rolled down Rory's face, and Jess wrapped his arms around her. Lane took this as her cue to leave, and she quietly left the room, heading back down to the diner. She was going to have fun trying to explain herself to her mother _this_ time.

"Rory, don't cry," Jess whispered. He gave her a hug, but she pushed him away.

"I worry about you, Jess Every time you...I think...What if..."

"Shh...I know." He pulled her to him again and she buried her face in his shoulder. He kissed the top of her head.

After awhile of standing together like that, Rory picked her head up and met his gaze. She wanted nothing better than to just close the gap between them and give in to her temptations, but something made her hold back.

She pulled away from him again. "Jess, we can't."

"I know," he assured her, a forced smile on his face. "I know."

* * *

Once downstairs, they were both doing everything possible to forget about last night's events and their little scene this morning.

"Coffee?"

"Yes, please."

She waited for Jess to slide her cup over to her, spilling the dark liquid into her cup so quickly, it's a wonder how he never made a mess. She raised her hands to the counter, poising them so she was ready for the cup.

Today, it didn't happen. Jess placed a mug on the counter, poured her coffee into it, and placed it in front of her with a soft thud. Some coffee sloshed out of the cup, and he quickly cleaned It up, but not fast enough to go unnoticed by Rory. She frowned. Every day, the same thing. Coffee mug on the quickly poured...no mess.

It was all wrong. He didn't even flash her one of his special grins after he had poured her coffee. He just treated her like any other customer. She could have been Kirk, for all it mattered. No, because if she had been Kirk, she would have been drinking cup after cup of coffee and then asking to use the restroom every two seconds.

"Can I use your bathroom?" she asked Jess.

He glanced over at her as he took someone's order. "Yeah, sure. You know where it is."

He didn't get it. Oh well.

Rory sighed, drinking her cup of coffee silently and exiting the diner.

* * *

**_A/N: ;/ Some parts of this chapter I liked, some...not so much. Hope it was alright in you guys' eyes. I'm trying to keep this story from sucking, that's why it's taking me a little longer to write it. Bear with me, I'm hoping to end it within the next 5 chapters or so._**


	20. Thank You

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews. ;D**

**Britt **_**–** thanks, sorry I haven't been working on my site lately...I haven't found the time. But I'll add your LL fic soon, I promise!! Thanks!!**

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**Chapter 20**

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Earlier...

Lorelai woke up to find Rory still asleep. She started to wake her up, but then she changed her mind. Smiling at her daughter, she quietly left the room and the house, heading off to work.

She pulled the door closed behind her and locked it. Turning around, she jumped nearly a foot. "Luke!"

"Lorelai. Do you know where Rory was last night?"

Lorelai frowned in confusion. "Sure. She went to the movies with Dean. Why, do you know something I don't?"

Luke breathed a sigh of relief. "Lane and Jess went to some wild party last night and they both got smashed."

Lorelai's mouth formed a small 'o' of surprise. "And you think Rory was—"

"Oh, no. No, I was just making sure. I doubt _Rory_ would do something like that."

"Oh, Luke. I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "I just don't know how to get through to that kid. Sometimes I feel like I'm letting my sister down."

Lorelai shook her head back at him. "No, Luke. Jess is a great kid. Liz would be proud. Trust me."

He smiled. "You think?"

"I know," she told him.

Luke revealed a cup of coffee that he had been hiding behind his back. He handed it to her. "Thanks."

Lorelai beamed. "You're welcome!"

Luke laughed as her eyes lit up at the sight of the coffee. "Are you headed off to work?"

"Actually, I was headed to the diner for coffee. But now that I have it—yes."

"See you later?"

"Of course." She grinned at him, slipping into her car. Luke watched her drive off, wondering what they would do on Friday. He needed a game plan. With only two days away, he had nothing.

He thought about it all the way back to the diner.

* * *

"What are you going to do?" 

Lorelai shrugged. "I have no idea."

"What does he usually do on dates? _Does_ Luke date?"

"I don't know. I mean, I'm sure he does, but he doesn't go around telling me about it."

"Well now you get to find out," Sookie replied. "Finally. Are you excited? I'm excited for you."

Lorelai thought about it. "I think so. I just hope nothing goes wrong."

"What would go wrong?"

"I don't know...I just have a bad feeling."

Sookie was quiet for a moment. "Well...just don't think about it. It'll be fine. You'll see."

Lorelai let out a breath. "I hope so."

* * *

Luke served customer after customer, the whole time with his mind somewhere else. 

"Can you get that table over there?" Jess asked his uncle, hurrying past him with a plate in each hand. He gave the plates to the customers and passed Luke again to go grab the next table's order. He paused, glancing at Luke. "Luke, you awake?" He waved a hand in front of his uncle's face. "I think that table's clean."

Luke blinked. "Huh?" His eyes fell on the table he has been wiping down for the past five minutes. It was spotless. "Oh. Yeah." He moved to the next table, and Jess followed him.

"What's with the vacant expression? You're usually getting on _my_ back for spacing out while I'm working."

"I've got things on my mind," Luke answered gruffly, going behind the counter and grabbing the coffeepot.

"Like your date with Lorelai?" Jess asked.

"No, I wasn't thinking about—"

"You're nervous, huh?" Jess guessed. "You don't know where to take her? You want to do something special, since it is your first—"

"Stop telling me what I do and don't want to do," Luke exclaimed.

"Geez, I was just trying to help," Jess replied, throwing his hands up in surrender.

"Thanks, but I don't need your help. I _have_ been on dates before. Remember Rachel?"

Jess groaned in response. He had never liked Rachel. Besides, that was ages ago. Ancient history.

"I don't know what you had against her, but she sure liked you."

"Please." Jess scoffed. "Anyway, this isn't about Rachel, it's about Lorelai. And your date. Do you want my help or not?"

"Not," Luke called over his shoulder as he walked around giving everyone coffee refills.

Jess shrugged. "Suit yourself."

* * *

"Well, you want to go someplace nice to show her you care enough to spend some time planning the date. And you want someplace quiet so you can talk to her." 

"So going to the movies is out?"

"The movies? That's generic," Jess laughed. "Sorry," he apologized quickly, as Luke started to look irritated.

Luke was already asking himself why he even went to his nephew for advice. I mean, how pathetic must he be to be taking dating advice from an eighteen-year-old?

"Dinner is good," Jess went on, "but not someplace like Al's Pancake World."

"I wouldn't take her to Al's," Luke said.

"Good. Do you dance? Dancing is a nice option for a first date."

"I'm not really a dancing kind of guy."

"How about just going for a walk after dinner? It gives you more time to talk, and it's a no-brainer. You do know how to walk, right?" Jess asked sarcastically.

"Yes, smart-ass, I think I remember."

"There you go. And bring her a present. Girls love presents."

"Now I have to buy stuff for her, too? How do I know what she wants?"

"Leave that to me," Jess replied.

* * *

Rory heard the phone ringing, but she made no effort to pick it up. She was lazily lounging on the couch and was too comfortable to get up. She smiled in satisfaction as the person on the other end of the line finally gave up, and the room was once again silent. 

Just as she started dozing off again, the book in her hands slowly falling to her lap, the shrill ring of the telephone started yet again.

Annoyed, and now wide awake, she finally stood up and went over to the phone. Picking it up, she grumbled a greeting, wondering who was to blame for disturbing her peace and quiet.

She flopped back onto the couch, lying down with the phone as she impatiently waited for her annoyance to identify itself.

"Hey."

As Jess's voice came on the line, Rory felt herself smile. Her peace and quiet instantly forgotten, she pondered the reason for the unexpected call.

"Were you sleeping? You sound tired," he told her.

"I was almost asleep."

"Sorry. That's probably why you didn't answer the first time I called."

"It's fine," she assured him, deciding against telling him that she had just been too lazy earlier to go to the phone. "What's up?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to go shopping. At the mall."

"With you?"

"I thought that was implied," he said with a grin.

Jess? At the mall? Was he joking? Because she didn't get it.

"Did you suddenly get an urge to go on a shopping spree? Spend some of your hard-earned Luke's money?"

"Well, _Luke's_ hard earned Luke's money, but close enough."

"Oh...Luke's money. Does he know about this?"

"Of course. He gave me a credit card. Did you want to help me or not?"

Rory thought about it for a minute. What was this really about? she wondered. Does he really want to see me, or is he just looking for a shopping buddy?

"Well?" he asked. "You in?"

"I don't know. I'm really tired, and—"

"I'm helping Luke find something to give your mother on their date on Friday."

Rory sat up on the couch. "Why didn't you just say that in the first place?" she exclaimed. "I'll be there in a bit."

Jess laughed, hanging up the phone.

Rory ran to her room and rifled through her closet. She didn't know why she felt the need to look her best just then, because it's not like this was a date. And Jess surely wouldn't care how she was dressed. He didn't seem to care about a lot of things these days, she thought dejectedly.

Sighing, she was just about to shut her closet door, thinking that finding the perfect outfit through all of her mess was a lost cause, when suddenly she spotted it. The perfect outfit. She grabbed it, quickly changing and putting on some matching jewelry and a dab of perfume.

She looked in the mirror as she finished getting ready and smiled in satisfaction.

_Ready or not, here I come.

* * *

_

A/N: I've been doing pretty good about writing my story lately. Yay. I don't have much written past this, but I don't really think writing the next chapter will be too much of a struggle. I need to bring in some more characters again, though. I have this habit of just writing LL, RJ or LR, LJ and that's it, lol. I need to work on that. Bring in a little Kirk and maybe Michel or something. ;P Anyway, hope you liked the chapter. Thanks for all the reviews!!


	21. Best Day of My Life

**_A/N: Thanks for all the nice reviews I got last chapter. Woo-hoo. ;)_**

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Chapter 21

The diner grew quiet as Rory entered, and she glanced around in confusion. She leaned over to Babette.

"Why is everyone staring at me?" she whispered.

Babette responded with a big grin. "You look gorgeous. You got a hot date or somethin'?"

Rory blushed. "No. I don't look that dressed up, do I?"

Before Babette could answer, Jess walked into the diner. His jaw dropped when he saw Rory Lane smirked, pushing his mouth closed with her index finger. Jess shrugged her off.

"Ready to go?" he choked out.

Rory nodded nonchalantly. "Let's go."

As they walked to Rory's car, Jess turned to her. "New outfit?"

She shrugged, biting her lip to keep from grinning from ear to ear. "I guess."

"It's nice," he told her, opening the passenger door and ducking into the car.

"Thanks," Rory replied, unable to contain her grin any longer. She locked eyes with Jess as she sat down behind the wheel. Feeling her face grow hot, she turned away and started the car.

"So, this should be fun," she said as she pulled onto the road.

"Yeah."

"How did Luke talk you into this one?" Rory wanted to know, pausing at a stop sign.

Jess fumbled with the dial on the radio. "He didn't." He caught eyes with her for a split second, before she turned back to the road. "I volunteered," Jess went on. "I told him he needed to make their date special."

Rory's lips curved into a smile. "You did, huh?"

He coughed. "Yeah, well, how often does he date? He can't scare the women off forever, now can he?"

"I don't think he scares them off. He just hasn't found the right one yet," Rory responded.

"Maybe. Either way, I figure I'd just try to help him along." Jess shrugged. "It's no big deal."

"That's nice."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "What?"

"You helping Luke. It's nice."

Jess shrugged again, focusing his attention back to finding a good radio station.

* * *

"Alright. From here on out, you're the boss. Go wherever you want and I'll be right behind you." 

"I have to stop by the ladies room first," Rory told him.

"Right behind you," Jess joked, starting to follow her.

She grinned at him. "You, mister, will stay right out here and wait for me." She lightly pushed his shoulder with her index finger. A jolt of electricity shocked Jess at her touch. His eyes searched hers to see if she felt it, too.

Rory slowly met his gaze. "I, um—"

Jess took a step toward her.

"I have to, um—"

Step.

"Go to the bathroom," Rory finished, fleeing into the one place she knew he couldn't follow. Or so she thought.

No sooner had the door closed, it was pulled right back open. Jess hesitantly poked his head into the room.

"Jess!" Rory's face flushed. "You can't be in—" Her words died in her throat as he placed a finger to her lips to silence her.

"Jess, stop," Rory whispered, pleaded, turning her head from him.

"Rory, I lo—"

"Young man, you're not supposed to be in here."

Rory and Jess glanced up as a somewhat large woman walked in. 'Janitor' was sewn on her uniform in bold letters.

"I know. One second." Jess turned back to Rory.

"Sir, I am going to have to ask you to—"

"Fine. Rory, I'll be outside."

Jess exited the restroom and the door closed with a soft thud.

Rory let out a breath, silently thanking the woman that was standing before her, giving her evil looks.

After going to the restroom, she washed her hands and found herself staring into the mirror, wondering how she had let her life get so complicated. Of course, by 'her life', she was referring to her relationship with Jess. It used to be so simple when they were little, when they both thought the opposite sex had cooties, and the only kisses they had to worry about were from relatives.

Rory jumped out of her daze at the shrill ring of her cell phone. She quickly dried her hands and reached into her purse for her cell phone.

"Hello?"

"Are you planning on spending the day in there?" Jess's voice came over the line. "Because I've got a gift to buy. And, frankly, I need your expert advice."

Rory grinned, thankful that he wasn't going to make this awkward for the both of them. She hung up the phone and exited the restroom. Jess looked up and hung up his own phone, as she walked over to him.

"Ready?"

"Yes," she answered, wondering just what exactly she was agreeing to.

* * *

An hour and countless stores later, Rory and Jess were still without-present. 

"I still think she would like that bracelet we saw back there," Jess declared.

"Yes, she'd like it. But she'll wear it the day she gets it and then it'll get buried at the bottom of her jewelry box and you'll never see it again. Trust me."

"I'm sure if it's from Luke—"

"Okay, fine. What if I told you I bought her a bracelet that is remarkably similar to the one you saw, if not the exact same, and that was the bracelet I was referring to being at the bottom of her jewelry box?"

Jess laughed. "Alright. What do you suggest then?"

Rory thought for a moment. Suddenly, her eyes lit up. "I know!"

She walked off, leaning Jess staring after her.

"I'm sorry, _what_ do you know? Where are you—_Rory_!" He hurried after her as she rounded a corner, running right into someone coming out of one of the stores he was rushing past. He nearly fell down from the unexpected collision, and—yes, he lost Rory.

Jess angrily turned to the person who he'd just run into, finding himself face to face with Dean.

"Sorry, man, you okay?" Dean asked.

Jess groaned inwardly. 'Not you again...' he thought. "Hey Dean. Did you see which way Rory went?"

"Rory's here?" Dean's eyes lit up, and his head flew back and forth as he scanned the crowd.

"Did I say Rory? I meant...Luke."

"You did?"

"Yeah," Jess said quickly. "We're trying to find Lorelai a present."

"I'm great at getting gifts," Dean boasted.

Jess nodded, choosing to ignore the hint. "Alright, well, I'll see you around, okay?"

Dean's face fell. "Oh, okay. Tell Luke I said hi."

"Will do." Jess stared at Dean until he left, then went back to searching for Rory. He whipped out his cell phone, redialing her number.

She picked up on the first ring, asking where he was.

"I can't leave you alone for a minute, can I?"

"You're the one who ran off," he retorted. "You let Dean find me."

"You're with Dean?" Jess could hear the laughter in her voice

"Not anymore. I scared him off."

"Poor guy. He just wants a friend."

"He can have you."

Rory snorted. "Thanks for giving me away," she said sarcastically.

"I would never give you away," Jess said seriously.

A silence fell over them.

"Where are you?" Jess finally asked.

"_Candle Scents_. Hurry up."

Jess walked over to the store, frowning. He immediately spotted Rory and made his way over to her. "A candle? That's your idea of a romantic first-date gift?"

"I'm not done yet." She picked up a candle and handed it to him.

He smelled it. "Wow, that's strong."

"The way Mom likes it."

"Now your whole house can smell like coffee." He tossed the scented candle back to her.

"Where's the bad?" Rory asked. "I'm thinking we grab a couple of these, go get a few of those travel-size bags of coffee from Doose's, add a thermos of Luke's coffee, and throw it all into a basket or something. She'll love it."

"Well, I give you points for originality."

Rory frowned. "You don't like it?"

Jess took the candle from her hand, grabbing another one just like it from the shelf. "I think it's a great idea," he assured her, leading the way to the checkout line.

* * *

_**A/N: Ehh...this chapter is a little** short**, I think. But I hope you like it anyway. Took me long enough to type it up. I have absolutely nothing else written after this, so I better get to workin', huh? I keep trying to start new stories, and they end up sounding like** crap**, so maybe I should take that as a sign and just focus on finishing this one. LOL. Any feedback/suggestions are very much appreciated...Oh, and Lorelai's coming in** next **chapter. Next chapter should be an** interesting **one hopefully, if I can write it right...**_


	22. Cigarette

**A/N: Sorry it's taken almost a year to get up this chapter. Holy crap, that's a long time. lol. Anyway, I've been trying to write this story, and even start others, but it's like all I write right now is crap. But I just reread this whole entire story and I'm determined to finish it, so...I'm going to try. Thanks for those who kept reviewing, urging me to update. You guys are the reason that I am. FYI: The town Chris offers to meet Lorelai in is a real town, I looked it up, lol.**

* * *

**Chapter 22**

Lorelai stared at the ringing phone from across the room. She glanced down at the armful of paperwork she held, then back at the empty desk. Where was Michel?

"Michel," she called as the fifth ring sounded, "Get the phone! Quick, before they hang up!"

Michel popped his head into the room and managed to reach the phone right as it stopped ringing.

"Oh, bummer, they hung up."

"Michel, do you do that on purpose?"

"Do what?" He drawled innocently, flashing her a smirk as he started to walk off.

Suddenly the phone rang again, and Lorelai stared at Michel.

"Damn." He picked up the phone. "Drangonfly Inn, Michel speaking."

"Michel, how's it going? Can I speak to Lorelai?"

"That depends. You are?"

"Christopher Hayden."

"Hold please." Michel held out the phone to Lorelai, covering the mouthpiece. "Christopher Hayden is on the phone. Should I tell him you are in a meeting?"

Lorelai glared at him, holding out her hand for the phone. Michel held it just out of her reach, so she leaned forward and snatched it from his hands. He walked off in a huff.

"Christopher?"

"Lorelai. Good. I wasn't sure you'd talk to me."

"I was debating on it," she admitted. "What's up?"

"Nothing."

"And you thought 'I'm so bored, why not call Lorelai at work?'" Her lips curved slightly.

He sighed. "I'm bothering you. You're busy. I knew I shouldn't have called you at work like this. I'll just—"

Something in his tone caused warning bells to go off in Lorelai's head.

"What's on your mind, Chris?"

"I need to talk to you."

"So...talk."

Christopher let out a breath. "No, I mean I need to talk to you—in person. Please, Lorelai."

"Are you pregnant?"

"What?" He wanted to laugh, but she sounded so serious, he wasn't sure if that's the reaction he was supposed to have.

Lorelai frowned, wondering what his reason was for insisting they talk in person. "Well this sounds big. What am I supposed to say?"

"Say you'll come to Boston?" he asked hopefully.

Lorelai sat down on the chair behind the front desk, just as Michel reentered the room. He motioned for her to get off his chair, but she swatted his hand away.

"Let me get this straight," she told Christopher, "You want to talk in person, yet _I'm_ the one that has to go out of my way to meet _you_?"

"Just this once. I'll never ask you for anything again."

"Why do I doubt that?" She asked, trying to hold back her anger.

"Say you'll come. I've been thinking about us a lot lately, and there's some things I really want to talk to you about. I can't stand how we left things the last time I came to Stars Hollow."

"I don't know..."

"Please, Lorelai. Just for the day. In fact, we could meet halfway. We could meet in Shrewsbury."

"I'm not going to meet you in a town called 'Shrewsbury'," Lorelai retorted.

"Why not? It's a nice cit—okay. How about Southbridge? There's nothing wrong with that name, is there?"

"No, there's not. But...I don't know..." Lorelai was torn between the hurt he had caused her the last time they met face to face, and actually wanting to see him now and resolve everything. She didn't know which side she wanted to be on, which emotion she wanted to let consume her.

"Please," Christopher repeated, the desperateness in his voice seeping through the phone. "Please, Lorelai."

She sighed in defeat. "I'll come," she told him, ignoring the nagging voice in her head that was warning her to take her words back. "Tomorrow."

"Thank you. You won't regret this."

'I hope not,' Lorelai thought, saying goodbye and hanging up the phone. She had a bad feeling that something bad would happen if she met Christopher in Southbridge. However, with no justification for the feeling, she pushed it to the back of her mind and went back to work.

* * *

Rory and Jess presented their basket idea to Luke later that night, and luckily he had seemed to go for it.

Although Rory had thought it was a brilliant idea for a gift for her mother, she wasn't sure how Luke would take to it. It was no secret that he wasn't fond of Lorelai's coffee addiction. He felt no shame in reminding her time and time again of all the bad things coffee did to you. Stunts your growth, turns your teeth yellow, gives you bad breath...

This is why Rory was surprised when Luke had actually liked her idea. Before he could change his mind, Rory grabbed Jess's hand and went upstairs to the apartment.

Once inside, Jess asked, "Why are we up here? Not that I mind, of course."

"We're setting the basket down before Luke changes his mind. If it was downstairs, he'd keep looking at it and he could end up changing his mind."

"Good thinking. But, Ror, I don't think he'll change his mind."

"You did," she said softly. She started out the door, as if to say 'end of conversation', but Jess stopped her.

Is that what she thought? Earlier today, he had been just about to declare his undying love for the girl! In the ladies restroom, no less. What more did she want?

"I did what?"

Rory blushed, realizing that she had just steered the conversation down a road that she wasn't sure she wanted to go down.

"I just meant..."

Jess waited for her to continue. _Dammit, Rory, _continue! He silently urged. Her eyes fell to her feet, a look Jess knew all too well. She was going to make him do all the talking.

"I haven't changed my mind about anything," he said with a sigh. _Please God, let her leave it at that._ Once again, God stared down at him—and laughed.

"What does that mean?"

He shut his eyes for a second, then took a step toward her so he could look right into her eyes. "What did you mean earlier when you thought I had changed my mind?"

Rory lifted her gaze, meeting his, and she smiled. She started to lean toward him, and an involuntary grin crossed Jess's face, too.

"_Jess!"_ Luke's voice boomed from downstairs. "Get down here!"

Rory and Jess stared at each other.

"Guess I'd better..." Jess trailed off, nodding in the direction of the door.

"I guess you should," Rory replied with a small smile.

"But, really, when has that stopped me before?"

Rory's eyes sparkled, and she shrugged. Before she could come up with a witty comeback, Jess kissed her. Or maybe she kissed him. Well, whoever had initiated it, they were kissing.

They made their way over to Jess's bed, running into his night table in the process. Rory let out a little moan as a searing pain shot through her leg, but as she fell onto the bed with Jess, her pain was instantly forgotten.

"Now do you believe I haven't changed my mind?" Jess asked her with a laugh.

Rory grinned, pulling him back to her. Neither noticed as the door opened and suddenly they had an audience.

A voice cleared, and time seemed to stop as Rory and Jess slowly glanced up.

"Uh...Luke sent me up here to tell you to come downstairs to help, Jess."

"Thanks...Dean. I'll be right down."

Dean fled down the stairs, and Rory and Jess looked at each other, bursting out laughing.

* * *

**A/N: I had this written before, I just changed a few minor things and proofed it better, so...if anyone's still reading this or to new readers, I'd appreciate any reviews, and I finally know how I'm going to end this story, so I promise within the next few chapters, this story will be over! Thanks for reading! 3 Kimberly**


	23. No One

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who kept reviewing & making me want to finish this story. I honestly don't know why it has taken me this long to finish, but I STILL plan on finishing this. Anyway, I've been getting e-mails alerts from saying that people have added me or my stories to their favorites or put me on author alert...just wanted to thank all y'all. ;)**

* * *

**Chapter 23 **

Lorelai waited anxiously for Rory to get home. As soon as she finally heard the front door open, she was at her daughter's side in seconds.

"Rory, sweets, guess who called me today?"

"President Bush."

Lorelai made the sound of a buzzer, indicating that Rory have been wrong.

"Howard Stern?"

"He wishes," Lorelai scoffed. "And eeehhh."

There was that damn buzzer sound again. So she wouldn't have to hear it any more, Rory declared, "Alright, I give up. Who called you?"

"Christopher."

"Oh." Genuinely surprised by this, Rory didn't know what to say. Nothing came to mind except, "Why?"

Lorelai sighed dramatically. "He wants to meet me to discuss our problems. That's my best guess, anyway. I'm going to meet him tomorrow."

"Wow. That's big. Not as big as my news, though!"

Lorelai realized her daughter was grinning from ear to ear. It made her smile, too.

"What is _your _big news?"

"Jess and I made out."

"Woah. Back it up there. You and Jess did what now?"

"We made out. It was real this time."

"As opposed to all the fake make out sessions from before?" Lorelai was trying desperately to understand.

"No, you know what I mean. I--"

Lorelai walked into the living room, sitting down on the couch. "This is huge. So, are you two together now?"

"I don't know," Rory admitted. "We were making out, Dean interrupted us, and I came straight home to tell you."

"Dean what?" Lorelai brought her hands to her face in awe of it all. "Wow. Your news is so much more exciting than mine."

Rory grinned. "I don't know what this means, though. It felt different this time."

"Of course it did. You didn't love him before."

Rory opened her mouth to protest, but Lorelai cut her off. "You weren't _in _love with him before."

Rory's mouth closed as she thought about this. Was she really in love with Jess? They had been best friends since they were five, and never in all those years had Rory thought something like this would happen.

But, she realized, somewhere along the line it had. She had fallen in love with her best friend.

The next morning, Rory fluttered about the house in a daze. Feeling happier than she had in weeks, she couldn't wait to go share her joy with her best friend, naturally. The only thing stopping her was Lorelai's departure. Today she left to meet up with Christopher.

'Speak of the devil,' Rory thought as Lorelai descended downstairs.

Rory's gaze fell on the bag her mother was carrying. "I thought this was just a day trip?"

"It was. Is. It's better to be safe than sorry."

"Okay. Let me know when you get there."

"Yes, _Mom_," Lorelai joked.

Rory smirked at her mother. Lorelai smiled, kissing Rory's forehead. "I'll be back soon. You won't even know I'm gone. I'll be back faster than you can say--"

"Got it, thanks." Rory knew that although Lorelai loved Jess, she was still unsure of him and Rory as a couple. She had, after all, fallen in love with _her _best friend many years ago. And look where that had gotten her. Pregnant before she even graduated from high school. She didn't want Rory to follow in her footsteps. Not this soon.

With one last goodbye and another 'back before you know it' comment, Lorelai was gone.

Rory stared at the phone, debating on whether or not to call Jess. Should she wait for him to call first? Should she just go to Luke's? In the end, she decided to just call him.

"Luke's," he greeted.

"Hey, it's me."

"Me who?" Jess asked innocently.

"Oh, sorry. I guess I have the wrong number."

Jess laughed. "Rory, wait. What's up?"

"Nothing. I was just wondering if you wanted to do something today. Mom just left for Southbridge, and--"

"I know. She's here, begging for coffee."

"Why does that not surprise me? Well, are you coming over, or not? Because if you're busy, I could give Dean a call..."

"Go ahead. Have fun. Tell me what happens."

"Don't make me," Rory pouted.

"I won't," he promised. "I have to finish my shift here, but meet me at the bridge in an hour."

"See you then."

Rory hung up the phone, going into her room to pick out a book to read. Then, with a book in hand, she left the house and headed to the bridge.

Lorelai glanced over at the map lying on the seat next to her. She really should have planned this trip better, figured out which roads to take and everything. She kept having to stop every five minutes or so to figure out either where she was, or where to turn next.

She shook her head. "Christopher, if I ever find you..."

She grabbed her cell phone from the seat next to her, pressing a few buttons and putting it to her ear. She carefully maneuvered to the side of the road, stopping, as the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Why did I agree to meet you again? And in a town I've never heard of, let alone been to?"

"You're lost," Christopher guessed.

"Yes, thanks for the update. A little help, please?"

"Well I don't know where you are, either!"

"Great, so I'll just stay on," Lorelai squinted at the map, "Prospect Street the rest of my life."

"Wait. I know where that is. You're not very far from where I am. Hold on, I'll come get you."

"Thank you." Lorelai breathed a sigh of relief. She had never been good with directions. The only reason she had never gotten lost like this before was because she had always had her little navigator next to her side, helping her out. Rory had been designated 'map holder' long ago, and she'd never gotten them lost.

Fifteen minutes later, Christopher pulled up beside Lorelai. They both rolled down their windows.

"Hey you," Christopher greeted. "Going my way?"

Lorelai rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Lead the way, stranger."

Jess walked over to Rory. He stood behind her, waiting for her to notice him. She was so engrossed in her reading, it didn't look like that was going to happen anytime soon.

He kneeled down behind her and leaned over to kiss her cheek. She jumped, turning around. "You scared me. When did you get here?"

Jess smiled, shaking his head. "This is what I love about you," he told her, taking the book from her hands and sitting beside her. He skimmed the words on the back of the book and handed it back to her. "Want me to tell you how it ends?"

"You better not!" Rory exclaimed. "So, how was work?"

He rolled his eyes. Enough said. "So..."

"About yesterday—"

"I guess we should talk about what happened, huh?"

Rory nodded. "I think so. We kissed. Again."

"A lot."

Blushing, Rory nodded again. "A lot."

"We need to have a serious talk about what's happening between us. I don't mean to sound like a girl, but—"

"I know," Rory interrupted. "I agree."

"Before I say anything, I want you to promise me something."

Rory bit her lip. "Okay."

"Promise me you won't run away. We're sitting here until we figure things out."

"I promise," Rory replied softly.

She turned to face him, pulling her knees to her chest and giving him her undivided attention. She waited for him to begin. This was it...they were finally going to have 'the talk' that was long overdue.

Jess took a deep breath. He knew she was scared. So was he. His feelings for her were so strong, he didn't know how to express them to her now. After years of practice, he had gotten pretty darn good at hiding how he was feeling. To be so open about it now...he didn't know where to begin. But here she sat before him, quiet, waiting for him to say something.

This is the conversation that would make or break them as a couple. But it was more than that. They weren't just two kids in high school that had a crush on each other. He was in love with her. It was telling her that was the hard part.

He decided to just go for it.

_Here goes nothing..._


End file.
